14 March 2023 , 06:37
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Rio Ferdinand has accused Liverpool of having a "small-club mentality" after their loss to Bournemouth at the weekend.
The Reds went down 1-0 at the side fighting relegation, just six days after they'd smashed Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield. Jurgen Klopp's side conceded a first-half goal and were unable to breakdown their relegation-threatened opponents with Mohamed Salah missing a penalty.
It is a major blow to their top four hopes, which had been revived in recent weeks with the Merseysiders seemingly back to their best. Ferdinand though has called out the manner of their celebrations against United, before going on to suffer a surprise loss.
He said on his YouTube channel : "That is a small club mentality. That screams small club. Screaming and shouting when they beat United, yes they battered us, hands up." Ferdinand also claimed that Liverpool would not finish in the top four, thus missing out on the Champions League next season.
The former United defender went on to call out several pundits: "The way Souness and Carragher were celebrating, the way they were trying to antagonise the guys [Roy Keane and Gary Neville], and then their team goes and does that at the weekend. They should be ashamed of themselves."
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Liverpool's loss on the south coast was their eighth reverse in the league this term and means they're now six points off Tottenham in fourth. It also means they've dropped points against all three promoted teams having drawn at Fulham and lost at Nottingham Forest.
Liverpool suffered a shock defeat at Bournemouth (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)Klopp bemoaned the performance of his side after the match as he told BT Sport: "What can I say? It was never really our game. We were dominant in the first half but mostly we put ball in at the wrong moment against a compact side. They had their counter-attacks they wanted to have. I really think the spaces we had to play were super clear, super open.
"The rest was more or less busy with covering other spaces, we didn't use that often enough, didn't enjoy the challenge to face a deep, compact side. It's clear we cannot get through with all the balls but it was like we didn't get through and things didn't work out."
Liverpool's next assignment in the second-leg of their European clash with Real Madrid. The Reds head to the Spanish capital with a mammoth task ahead of them having lost 5-2 at Anfield just several weeks ago with Klopp admitting the tie was all but over.