Fabio Cannavaro analysed Liverpool’s defensive mistakes against Napoli, while Clarence Seedorf said the Reds’ approach was ‘terrible.’
Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli shocked the Reds with a 4-1 win at the Stadio Maradona in the first match of the Champions League Group A.
They scored three goals in the first half, missing two more big chances, including a penalty kick fluffed by Victor Osimhen. They continued to dominate in the second half, scored the fourth goal through Piotr Zielinski and controlled the game when Luis Diaz scored Liverpool’s only goal of the night.
Cannavaro, a 2006 Italy World Cup winner, was one of the pundits of Amazon Prime Italia analysing the game at the Stadio Maradona last night.
The former Ballon d’Or analysed the Reds’ defensive mistakes in Napoli’s second and fourth goals: “All the players were attracted by the ball and a simple one-two combination was enough for Napoli to score,” he said about André Zambo Anguissa’s strike.
“Surely, it was a big blow for Liverpool, the players were out of position and so they conceded the second goal.
“As for the fourth goal, this is such an easy ball to read. Two centre-backs like those of Liverpool must be able to defend in a situation like this.
“They were slow mentally. Look at the goals they conceded. Gomez is an international player and he lost ball possession twice in his half.
“Napoli had a strong start, and had two penalties so Liverpool looked confused.”
Former Milan and Real Madrid star Clarence Seedorf, a four-time Champions League winner, blamed the Reds’ approach, leading to defensive woes.
“A team like Liverpool is accustomed to playing with top teams so the approach to me was terrible,” he said. Mistakes are normal, but they were just too slow mentally.”
Napoli face Rangers away in the second Champions League group stage game next week and host Spezia at home on Saturday in Serie A.