Graeme Souness rips into Jurgen Klopp Liverpool after their defeat to Leeds

Graeme Souness has beaten Liverpool after their 2-1 defeat to Leeds on Saturday night.

Jurgen Klopp’s woes got worse when the late winner of Crysencio Summerville for Leeds gave the Reds their fourth loss of the season and their first home defeat in 19 months.

The night started disastrously after Rodrigo made a mistake by Joe Gomez before Mohamed Salah equalized the game.

Leeds goalkeeper Ilan Meslier made several fine saves before Summerville scored in the 89th minute to lift Jesse Marsch’s side out of the bottom three, leaving the Reds in ninth place – eight points away from the Champions League spots after just 12 games .

And Souness, speaking on Sky Sports after the game, insisted that this Liverpool team is a shadow of their former selves.

He said: ‘Liverpool is a country mile from what they have been in years past.

“They don’t play with the same intensity. I think in many cases Leeds tonight was more than a game for what Liverpool has been doing with teams for years.

Liverpool used to bully teams, bullied their midfield. And now they are being bullied.

“They still had plenty of chances to win the match, the man-of-the-match is a goalkeeper (Leeds stopper Meslier) – that tells the story.

“Liverpool is not like the team we have seen in the last five years. They just don’t have the same intensity. They don’t have it in their legs anymore.

When trying to pinpoint the specific problems for Liverpool, Souness highlighted the lack of midfield players who were at the peak of their careers.

That part of the pitch has been a particular talking point for Klopp, who repeatedly announced over the summer that he would not be adding anything to midfield before making a late move for Arthur Melo – the Juventus mercenary has played just 13 minutes of football and is now being expect to be out until the new year.

Souness added: “I think if you look at the midfield. Thiago 31, Henderson 31, Fabinho 29. And then you have Keita who is about 27, you have Oxlade-Chamberlain who is out and injured at 29.

“You have Curtis Jones who is 21 and the other young player who started tonight, Harvey Elliot is 19.

Going back to the start of the season, Jurgen said his midfield was vulnerable because of the age group and the potential for injuries.

“We know it’s a very tough league to play in and it’s a long nine months at times, so it’s a big question to expect the two young lads to come in to spend most of the season with you.

“I’ve been saying it since the start of the season, the midfield they have now is no longer the midfield that will bring them the big trophies.

Despite the dismal defeat for Liverpool, Souness was full of praise for Jesse Marsch’s side after their momentous win.

He said: ‘Leeds were a team that played under pressure. Jimmy (Floyd Hasselbaink) said they were a young team. They didn’t play as a young team tonight.

“They played as a team that really believed in what they were going to do, believed they were going to get a result. You could say a lucky first goal, but that’s not why Liverpool lost the game.’