Wayne Rooney has criticised Liverpool’s senior players for lacking leadership following the club’s alarming run of Premier League form.
Liverpool lost for the fourth successive Premier League game at Brentford on Saturday, the joint-second worst run of form from a reigning champion. Their four consecutive defeats have seen the Reds drop to seventh in the table, seven points adrift of leaders Arsenal.
Rooney believes there are ‘big concerns’ at Anfield and questioned the body language of captain Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah. The experienced duo were key to the club’s title success last season but have struggled to replicate those performances this time around.
“No-one has seen this coming, it’s hit them quick, it’s hit them hard and I think they’re struggling to find a way out of it,” the former England captain told The Wayne Rooney Show.
5 – Liverpool are the first team in English top-flight history to win their opening five matches of a season and then lose their next four. Slump. pic.twitter.com/g81wIPWcpj
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 26, 2025
“This is a time where the manager and the leaders in the team need to figure it out very quickly.
“Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, they’ve signed new deals but I don’t think they’ve really led that team this season.
“I think body language tells you a lot, and I think we’re seeing slightly different body language from the two of them. They are the top two players in that team and if their body language is not right, that affects everyone else.
“I might be wrong on this, but if I was a Liverpool fan or the manager, that would be a big concern for me.”
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