Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has come in for strong criticism after the 3-2 Champions League defeat to Fenerbahce. The Hungarian made his first start since September but failed to impress.
Liverpool twice took the lead through Trey Nyoni and Alexander Isak, but goals from Mason Greenwood, Archie Brown and Vedat Muriqi gave the Turkish club victory.
Journalist David Lynch delivered a scathing assessment of Szoboszlai's performance on the Media Matters podcast on Anfield Index:
"A terrible night. He played very, very badly.
"He doesn't progress the ball particularly well from deep. When he's used in that position, he has certain difficulties.
"He was just terrible. There's nothing even to discuss.
"He offered nothing in organising the press, not a single tackle.
"He completely failed to get into the game or have any impact on it.
"He should have played much better. And I just don't see any reason to put him in the team right now."
Lynch also highlighted the problems facing Ryan Gravenberch, who, like Szoboszlai, recently signed a new contract with Liverpool:
"The situation with these two is very interesting, because both recently signed big new contracts.
"I'm not saying Szoboszlai is useless and needs to be sold. Seasons are long, and things are constantly changing.
"Perhaps Iraola will find a way to bring out his best qualities. We're hoping for that too, because he really does have some very useful skills.
"From the players' point of view, it's simple: if they want to solve this problem, they need to play better when they get the chance."
Before Sunday's match against Crystal Palace, Lynch advised Andoni Iraola to leave the Hungarian on the bench:
"Before the game against Palace, you can't seriously argue that he should start and that places in the team are decided purely on merit.
"Players like Szoboszlai and Gakpo can be useful coming off the bench."
