Liverpool have been accused of showing a lack of respect towards Manchester United after clips emerged of several players performing keepy-uppies in the Old Trafford tunnel pre-match. Arne Slot’s team suffered a 3-2 defeat to United in the Premier League on Sunday – with Don Hutchison now condemning their conduct in the build-up to kick-off.
Goals from Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko saw United surge into a 2-0 advantage before careless errors allowed Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo to draw Liverpool level. Kobbie Mainoo’s low drive from the edge of the area secured victory for United, who achieved their first league double over their bitter rivals in a decade.
The result highlighted the difficulties Liverpool are currently experiencing, and footage showing the casual mood among senior players before kick-off did little to ease their supporters’ frustrations.
Clips shared on social media captured Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong passing a ball around inside the Old Trafford tunnel.
That provoked criticism from Don Hutchison, who represented the club during the early 1990s. He posted on X: “I can’t get my head around the Liverpool players doing keepy-ups inside the Man Utd tunnel. [Jurgen] Klopp + [Jordan] Henderson + [James] Milner etc etc would never have allowed these sort of standards to drop.”
Asked to elaborate on his comments, Hutchison said: “I think the issue with this is… I looks like disrespect to the opposition that you’re doing keeps-ups in their tunnel. Not focused. Concentrate on the team meeting/the instructions from the coaches/tactics. Be diligent in thinking about your opponent. It looks sloppy.”
The defeat to United brought an end to Liverpool’s run of three consecutive league victories, leaving them fourth in the Premier League table, seven points adrift of their rivals.
Having lifted the title in Slot’s maiden campaign, the Reds have endured a difficult season and look set to finish without silverware later this month.
The confirmation that Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson will depart at the end of the season will further weaken the experienced leadership group that Hutchison referenced, leaving Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker as the only remaining long-serving stalwarts. But Alisson himself has been linked with a move away.
Sunday’s defeat was Liverpool’s 18th of the campaign across all competitions, and Slot was left lamenting yet another below-par display. “The margins are not so big on us being able to win a game like this, I know what we can improve on and we are already working hard on this,” he said.
“The same issues keep coming back which is not a huge surprise as you don’t have long to fix it during the season. Tactically you can change certain things but for me it is clear where we have to improve and we will.”