Joey Barton is famous for numerous reasons. Firstly his footballing ability, secondly that famous Scouse/French embarrassment that gave Steve McClaren a run for his money and thirdly his sixth sense which allows him to bet on the amount of shits given in Scottish football.
Begrudgingly though our fellow scouser Joey also carries the knack of discussing how he feels and and what he thinks regardless of the outcome or consequences. And quite right too, he doesn’t really have anything to lose and with a lengthy ban in front of him, he needs to fill his time.
Earlier this week Mr Barton appeared on BT sport in which he tried to play top-trumps with the irritable Chris Sutton to see who could come out with the most controversial opinion in order to boost their on screen ego’s. For Joey Barton, it kind of worked.
The topic of Liverpool Football Club came up and its safe to say Joey didn’t hold back on his thoughts. In some media outlets it has been portrayed as negative, but after some thought it appears he was simply offering some honest yet constructive criticism of Klopp’s team.
Barton who played in Burnley’s 2-1 defeat an Anfield had this to say “I played against them a couple of weeks ago and it is arguably the worst Liverpool side I have played against at Anfield, You have always gone there and it is difficult to play, but they didn’t have the same level of conviction that they seem to have over the course of my career.
“There were certain things about the team in the key components of the team which you would expect them to have like the defensive structure and solidity through the middle of the park.
“You can dress that up however you like, they have been very good going forward with the acquisition of Mane, but defensively the keeper is still an issue and they are playing Milner at left-back.
“They need to near enough go back out there and recruit a new back four with only Clyne that is solid in that position.”
It has hardly been sugar coated but we expect no less from a man who tried to take on half the Manchester City after being sent off. As previously mentioned, it seems harsh but nothing that Liverpool fans don’t already know. Depth and quality are both essential when building in the summer transfer window, Im sure Klopp will sleep a lot better knowing Joey has got his back.