Championship standard - Joey Barton tears into Liverpool after bold Klopp claim
Match

Championship standard - Joey Barton tears into Liverpool after bold Klopp claim

Danny Wright
Danny Wright

Head of Editorial AUTHORITY Senior editorial lead managing the daily newsroom output across 11 sites. Daniel oversees the correspondents and the specialist pundit output. FOCUS Newsroom management, breaking news, and high-level editorial quality control. THE BRIEF Former correspondent Daniel has risen through the editorial ranks at Breaking Media to run the daily newsroom, coordinating stories from live reporting to final publication. He ensures that every expert-led report is executed with total accuracy and speed.

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By Danny Wright

Ex-Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton is the latest pundit to tear into Liverpool for their lacklustre defence - comparing it to the standard of a Championship side.

The Reds rearguard has been constantly criticised in recent seasons, with questions being raised about Jurgen Klopp's ability to organise his side when out of possession.

However the Anfield manager has recently made the bold claim that he could write a book about the art of defending in two hours, he is that confident of his tactical awareness.

Not many would agree with the German though as in just six Premier League games, Liverpool have conceded a staggering 11 goals - a tally only beaten by three other teams who are all currently placed in the bottom four.

Further flaws were exposed on Saturday when they narrowly beat Leicester 3-2 at the King Power after Jamie Vardy had a late penalty saved by Simon Mignolet.

Now, Barton has rubbished Klopp's controversial claim, and blasted the Liverpool defence with what he really thinks of it.

"They're great going forward. Champions League attack with a Championship defence," said Barton on TalkSport about Klopp's comments, as shown in a video on Alan Brazil's Sports Breakfast's official Twitter account on Monday morning.

He added: "I think if you're going to build a side to challenge the big clubs, you've got to be able to defend."

Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip started as the centre-back pairing for Liverpool on Saturday, a duo which is arguably their strongest pairing in front of Mignolet.

Ragnar Klavan remains another option while youngster Joe Gomez is also receiving backing from the fanbase to play there in future fixtures.

In other Liverpool news, Mignolet has hailed Philippe Coutinho after Saturday's win.

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Jurgen Klopp
Liverpool FC
Joey Barton
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