Liverpool midfielder Victor Moses is under
pressure to step up his game when the Reds visit
Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday for a league
encounter.
The on-loan Chelsea player has come under
criticism with regard to his role in the team with
pundits describing him as undedicated and without
knowledge of football.
The Nigeria player got more lashing last week
when his error gifted Hull City their first goal in a
game Liverpool were to lose 3-1.
Moses once described himself as an intuitive
player that follows the game plan from the coach.
“It’s all instinctive when the ball comes to me. If
there’s space I will move towards goal. I always
want to attack and put defenders on the back foot,”
he once said on the club’s website.
“You have to find a way to influence the game
wherever you are playing, but you also need to be
aware of the team’s tactical plan. The first aim is
to do the job the manager is asking you to do.”
But the statement drew more attacks from his
critics, who have called on him to take command of
his role in the team and prove his worth.
In his column for the Liverpool Daily Post on
Sunday, Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson
explained why Moses was struggling at Anfield. He
wrote, “I was disappointed (in him). The problem
with Victor Moses is he doesn’t know the game, he
doesn’t know about football. At least that’s what I
pick up from watching him. He plays by intuition
rather than knowing what his role in the team is.”
Jamie Carragher, another Reds hero, said of Moses
after the Hull City defeat, “This is the reason why
he doesn’t play. He’s not responsible enough with
the ball in his own half of the pitch. You can’t make
decisions like that as a wide player.
That’s why wide players notoriously end up out of
the team.”
With injuries ruling out Daniel Sturridge, Steven
Gerrard and Jordan Henderson, Moses is in the
spotlight to man the midfield help Liverpool
overcome their opponents in London.
In spite of the criticisms, manager Brendan
Rodgers rated Moses highly when he described
him as talented.
He said, “Victor is a talent and is happy to be in the
squad, he wants to improve and I communicate
regularly with him. He has never said a bad word
about Liverpool since he’s been here.”