Ludogorets performance showing signs of improvement
Thursday 27 November 2014 14:50, UK
Gary Neville believes Liverpool are making steps in the right direction after their 2-2 draw with Ludogorets, but they need to stop making defensive errors.
Georgi Terziev’s last-gasp header meant the Reds came away with a point from Bulgaria on Wednesday, but they are still in the Champions League and know victory over Basel in Matchday 6 will see them progress to the last 16.
After a poor display against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday, Sky Sports pundit Neville believes this marks a move in the right direction for Brendan Rodgers’ men.
"It’s ended the night in disappointment for them but I think that’s a step forward for Liverpool," he said. "You don’t go from being as bad as they were on Sunday, as low as they were, to straight away thinking they’re going to be fantastic.
"It’s about small steps, and that was a small step tonight. They’re still in the Champions League, they’ve got Stoke, Leicester and Sunderland before they play the next game versus Basel and then against Manchester United.
"They’ve got an opportunity to pick themselves up, thinking they’ve come away from there still in the Champions League. If they’d gone out tonight people would have been queuing up, probably including ourselves, to be very critical if Liverpool had lost.
"The pressure was building on the manager, building on the players, so I think that’s a small step forwards tonight and a good result for them."
Terziev’s late goal was the 13th the Reds have conceded from set pieces in all competitions this season, and it’s an ongoing problem for Rodgers - one Neville believes the Liverpool boss must deal with.
The pressure was building on the manager, building on the players, so I think that’s a small step forwards tonight and a good result for them (Liverpool).
"They’re going to have to rid themselves of goalkeeping errors and set-piece mistakes, because that’s going to kill them week in, week out," he added.
"But at least you can explain those errors - on Sunday [against Crystal Palace] you could have pointed to 400 things. At least there were only a couple of things you can point to tonight in terms of conceding goals.
"The goals they’ve conceded tonight are poor, but there were some good traits in that performance. They looked a lot more solid.
"In the last few weeks you watch Liverpool and they think they can be like last year – I think tonight there was something of a retreat, and a retreat in the selection to pick more solid characters, more solid players who are a bit more dependable.
"They were knocking balls forward into Rickie Lambert who was bringing people into play, and the big plus tonight was Sterling looking like he’s actually back to what is something like Raheem Sterling form – beating players and getting in behind."
