Pundit Robbie Mustoe has recently talked about Ozan Kabak’s debut in Liverpool’s Premier League loss to Leicester City.
Mustoe was speaking on the latest edition of The 2 Robbies podcast and the panel discussed multiple issues involving the latest round of Premier League games. One topic of discussion was Liverpool’s loss to Leicester City at King Power Stadium. Mustoe talked about Kabak’s performance and he believes that the defender looked shaky positionally.
Kabak joined Liverpool from Schalke in the January transfer window on a loan deal, with the Reds having the option to buy him permanently. The Turkish defender made his debut against the Foxes on Sunday and Dean Ashton recently said that the youngster was let down by his own teammates in the game.
Should Liverpool sign Kabak permanently?
Yes
No
Mustoe talked about Kabak’s showing and he believes that the 20-year-old doesn’t look ready, even though the second goal was more on Alisson than him.
The pundit said: “Kabak just looked a little short for me. I tweeted out [that] he doesn’t look ready. I thought he looked shaky. Jamie Vardy ran off him for fun. I watched it closely, and sometimes those runs didn’t get the ball, but I’m thinking, ‘Wow if the ball is played there, he is going to get in behind.’
“I’m not blaming Kabak. That goal was the goalkeeper’s fault. No question it’s the goalkeeper’s fault, but the ball was going over his head. And if the goalkeeper didn’t come out and make a mess of it – granted, then they might have been struggling again. The last goal, Kabak was out of position.
“So again, he is 20 years of age, but what a tough game to come into. And I just thought he looked a little shaky positionally. Kept his passing very, very simple. Again, we’ll see how he develops. And he’s young, he’s an international, he’s been playing in the Bundesliga and I get all that. But I guess I expected more of a solid defender and I just felt he struggled.”
TIF Thoughts on Kabak’s performance…
In the game against the Foxes, Kabak didn’t pick up a great rating as it stood at only 5.15/10, perhaps put down to the error credited to him which led to Leicester going in front (as per WhoScored).
Kabak ended up being the second-lowest rated player in the game – only ahead of Alisson. Having said that, the Turkey international won three tackles and he also won a couple of aerial duels. He also made a single clearance. He was dribbled past just once (as per WhoScored).
It shows that while Kabak did make an error leading to goal, he arguably gave a good account of his defensive abilities in the game.