Seb Stafford-Bloor has been speaking on the latest edition of The Athletic’s Tifo Podcast about the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
One topic he spent a bit of time on was Liverpool and Naby Keita’s performance against Real Madrid.
The 26-year-old, who is valued at £34.2m by Transfermarkt, started against Real Madrid but was hooked before half time, and Stafford-Bloor thinks that this performance could be the beginning of the end for Keita at Anfield.
He said: “The game just completely passed him by and any opportunity he had to influence it, he didn’t take, which is actually a quite severely bad performance.
“I had all of these expectations when he arrived; I convinced myself for a long time that he was only ever another 90 minutes away from adjusting properly and getting into the rhythm of the Premier League or this Liverpool team, and it just hasn’t happened.
“[He’s a] really beautiful player, and he’s been a crushing disappointment.
“This felt like the low point, this felt – I don’t want to say like the end – but it feels like a long way back from a moment like that.”
Do you think Liverpool should sell Keita?
No, give him a bit longer
Yes, he has failed
TIF Thoughts on Keita…
Liverpool were awful against Real Madrid, and Keita was terrible as he earned a 3/10 rating from the Liverpool Echo for his no-show.
Keita arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2018 with big expectations, and after 76 appearances, he hasn’t quite hit those expectations, and this was probably the low point in his Liverpool career.
What happens next, we don’t know, but you would think Keita is going to have to do something special in the next game that he is given a chance in because this display was embarrassing.
In other news: BBC pundit suggests Liverpool star’s confidence has been shattered after big Klopp call