Liverpool journalist Ollie Connolly has been sharing his criticism for Reds defender Ozan Kabak and his latest performance for the Merseyside club during their recent 2-0 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
This comes after Connolly made an appearance on a recent episode of the Liverpool Echo’s Blood Red Podcast where he spoke about a number of topics concerning Jurgen Klopp’s side.
On the subject of Kabak and his performance against Leipzig in midweek, Connolly had this to say about the defender.
He said: “I thought Kabak was quite bad. I think positionally, he’s a bit of a mess, you see him get turned around three or four different times and he’s one of those players where he’s kind of juicing his numbers quite a bit and then when you watch it, you see the decision-making is just not there.
“He has a lot of moments where he just freezes and he’s paired with a guy in Nat Phillips, who’s a bit reckless and will just jump out, so that’s a bit of a mess.”
Liverpool signed Kabak back in the late stages of the previous January transfer window from German club Schalke on a loan deal until the end of the season.
Since his arrival at Anfield, the 20-year-old, who is currently valued at £22.5 million, has made four appearances for Liverpool in the Premier League and in both of their Champions League victories against Leipzig (per Transfermarkt).
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TIF Thoughts on Ollie Connolly’s assessment of Kabak and his performance against Leipzig…
Given how Kabak managed to earn himself a solid match rating of 7.02/10 for his performance against Leipzig in midweek and made more blocks than any other Liverpool player on the night, ultimately keeping a clean sheet, it’s hard to see why Connolly has this criticism for the young defender.
Moving forward, if Kabak can continue putting in similar performances for the Reds as he did against Leipzig throughout the remainder of the season, he will be in with a shout of persuading the club in trying to sign him on a permanent deal when his current loan spell expires.