Manchester City's £72M star pinpoints Liverpool's problem

Manchester City's £72M star has pinpointed Liverpool's early season struggles in an interview this week with an Italian media outlet.

Defensive midfielder Rodri has spoken out about Liverpool's poor start, revealing how the Premier League is a highly unforgiving league.

The Reds find themselves in 8th with only two wins from six games and their start has also included a 4-1 loss in the Champions League to Napoli.

It's certainly not what we expect from a team who've been highly successful in the last four years but do Rodri's comments true?

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Why Rodri's comments are true

The defensive midfielder was speaking with Gazzetta dello Sport (via Football365) about the Premier League and talked about Liverpool's poor start.

It just so happens that his insight is reflective of Liverpool's situation in the early part of the season.

“The Premier League level is so high that as soon as you slow down, you lose points. Liverpool are not in crisis, they are just less effective, and the Premier League does not allow you to relax.”

Less effective has been a talking point, given their poor running and sprint statistics at the start of the new season. The poor form has seen everyone call it a crisis however because the standards have been set so high from Jurgen Klopp's side.

In terms of 'slowing down' Liverpool have arguably weakened their squad with the sale of Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich and bringing in the 23-year-old forward Darwin Nunez who hasn't become fully accustomed to life in this Liverpool side.

Furthermore, they are typically fast starters in the league under Klopp; when they won the title back in 2019/20, they won their opening eight games to set a precedence but the opposite has happened this season.

The Reds could be at risk of not moving forward as a squad in the window this summer following their long-term interest in Aurélien Tchouaméni which, in the end, failed.

There are also the long-term effects of playing 63 competitive games as a squad last season, combined with the pressure to win, international breaks and a reduced summer break due to the World Cup in Qatar in the winter that have all contributed to Liverpool's poor start.