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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Charlotte Coates

'Just going to be blah' - Tim Howard writes off Liverpool season and makes blunt midfield claim

Liverpool's midfield doesn't have 'enough legs', according to former Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard.

The comments from Howard, who made more than 400 appearances for the Blues during a 10-year spell at the club, came after the Reds suffered a shock loss to Leeds United at Anfield on Saturday night.

Liverpool tried to sign Aurelien Tchouameni from Monaco in the summer but the France international midfielder opted for Real Madrid in what was a blow to Jurgen Klopp's summer transfer window plans.

READ MORE: Fabinho fumes with Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool team-mate involved in touchline altercation

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The Reds' usual style of pressing their opponents high and hounding them until they win the ball back hasn't been seen on many occasions this season and the energy in the middle of the park has been called into question.

The Reds have had to change their tried-and-tested 4-3-3 formation but it hasn't stopped painful defeats to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest and Leeds in the space of a week.

And former USA No.1 Howard said on NBC following the loss to Leeds: "I feel like their season is just going to be blah. Their midfield needs revamping. They've gotten old and there's not enough legs in there for the way Jurgen Klopp wants to press. It's just going to be an average season."

Captain Jordan Henderson, at 32, isn't capable of the running power he once was, while the 29-year-old Fabinho is horribly out of form. Thiago is 31 and injury prone while Harvey Elliott, at 19, has been the most consistent performer in the engine room, but lacks the experience of the others.

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