On Sunday afternoon, Liverpool dropped two valuable points in the Premier League title race as old rivals, Man Utd, held them to a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford. Jurgen Klopp's men should have been out of sight at half time but several missed chances meant the home went in at the break just goal down.
Shortly after the restart, Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah made a huge blunder when his pass to Virgil van Dijk fell straight to Bruno Fernandes whose first-time effort from near the halfway line looped over Caoimhin Kelleher who was in no man's land.
The goal gave Man Utd a way back into the match and lifted the crowd for a frantic and chaotic second half. Although Quansah had a good game aside from the incident, his mistake has overshadowed everything positive he did and has left many Liverpool fans blaming the young defender for the dropped points.
Bruno Fernandes, what a GOAL 😱 pic.twitter.com/yxL9VDrIKN
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 7, 2024
As the fans piled in on social media, Quansah was forced to take action by limiting comments on his Instagram page last night to try and block out the haters. Before Quansah was able to limit the comments, some of the things that fans had commented on some of his pictures made for uncomfortable reading.
One fan said: “You've cost us the league” while another posted: “I might never forgive you for this”. Others were calling for him to be sold or sent out on loan.
Jurgen Klopp in Jarell Quansah backing
In the immediate aftermath of the match, Jurgen Klopp gave his full backing to the young defender and urged fans to get behind him. The German said:
“As a football player in the Premier League and playing for Liverpool, I have the bad news it will not be the last mistake in his life, unfortunately. That’s how life is. I thought he dealt extremely well with it, we dealt well with it. But when our idols in the past made these kinds of mistakes there was no social media, so I hope he’s smart enough to switch that off.
“Don’t read the Daily Mail or whatever where they go for people in these moments and make it personal. He dealt extremely well with it and that’s part of the game.”
“We want to play football and keep the ball and play build-up. It is not a great situation but there are bigger mistakes in football that weren’t used, but Bruno saw the opportunity and took it and that’s how it is. There is absolutely no blame or criticism, not at all, it just happens. He will learn from it and that’s the best thing that can happen.”
Liverpool captain, Virgil van Dijk, also gave his full backing to his fellow defender, saying that he shouldn't dwell on the error. The Dutchman said: “Mistakes happen in football, everyone who has a career in football makes mistakes you can only learn from it.”