‘No man’s land’: Paul Merson slams Liverpool midfielder after ‘lazy’ moment against Arsenal today

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Paul Merson has slammed Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara on Sky Sports after a ‘lazy’ moment against Arsenal today.

Jurgen Klopp’s men fell to a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates today and got off to a poor start to the game.

Martin Odegaard picked up the ball from Bukayo Saka in the Liverpool half before playing a perfectly-weighted through ball to Gabriel Martinelli. The Brazilian winger then put the Gunners ahead inside two minutes.

But Merson feels Thiago was caught in ‘no man’s land’ during the build-up to the goal.

Merson slams Thiago

Liverpool had the chance to create an early opening themselves but Diogo Jota’s pass was intercepted by William Saliba.

The French defender then played a pass out to Ben White, who Thiago stepped up to press. But Merson claims it was the wrong decision from the Liverpool star.

“Very easy, too easy for me [Arsenal’s first goal],” Merson said on Sky Sports.

“They nearly get in here Liverpool, just an unlucky ball [Jota to Luis Diaz]. Thiago goes into no man’s land, he doesn’t have to go there.

“He doesn’t really close him down, it’s very lazy. It’s an easy ball [White’s pass to Saka]. I thought he was offside at the time [Saka]. Then [Jordan] Henderson looks at Odegaard then leaves him.”

After Thiago stepped up the pitch, the ball ended up at the feet of Odegaard – who had plenty of time to pick out Martinelli for Arsenal’s early opener.

The criticism may be a bit harsh from Merson, considering Klopp encourages his players to press high up the pitch.

But there’s no doubt that Arsenal played through Liverpool far too easily for the opening goal. Thiago and Henderson were brilliant in the first-half for Liverpool today as they dominated the midfield battle.

But they couldn’t manage to have a similar impact in the second-half as Arsenal secured all three points.

Liverpool have got off to an underwhelming start to the season and currently sit tenth in the Premier League after defeat at the Emirates.