{"id":1099252,"date":"2019-07-28T19:28:17","date_gmt":"2019-07-28T18:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1099252"},"modified":"2019-07-28T19:35:08","modified_gmt":"2019-07-28T18:35:08","slug":"liverpool-napoli-pre-season","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/liverpool-napoli-pre-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Three observations as Liverpool are mauled at Murrayfield by Napoli in pre-season defeat"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a pulsating pre-season friendly hosted at the\u00a0Murrayfield Stadium Liverpool were blown away 3-0 by Napoli.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It wasn’t quite the rugby score the venue is accustomed to, with the Edinburgh arena being home to the Scottish Rugby Union, but it perhaps could have been as Carlo Ancelotti’s side ran amok for the majority of the match.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7317342-rodgers-has-helped-tick-the-boxes-for-maguire-s-manchester-move<\/p>\n

In the first half\u00a0Dries Mertens and\u00a0Arkadiusz Milik gave the\u00a0Parthenopeans a deserved 2-0 lead, before\u00a0Amin Younes completed the scoring after the restart to provide Jurgen Klopp plenty to ponder.<\/p>\n

And so, after an exhilarating match in Scotland, what observations can we take away?<\/p>\n

1. This is not\u00a0“the Divock Origi the whole world wanted”<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Prior to this encounter Klopp had waxed lyrical about\u00a0Divock Origi’s recent form, praising the 24-year-old for putting his previous injury problems behind him – notably the injury suffered from Ramiro Funes Mori’s poor challenge in 2016 – and coming of age in the esteemed jersey of Liverpool’s iconic red strip.<\/p>\n

The German branded\u00a0Origi’s second-half-of-the-season heroics as him being like a “new signing” and even described him as “the Divock Origi the whole world wanted”<\/a>, culminating in a new long-term contract. In other words, Liverpool fans will now be expecting the Belgian to demonstrate the kind of performances reminiscent of his Barcelona brace if Klopp’s rousing endorsement is anything to go by.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Unfortunately this afternoon it was more early 2018\/19\u00a0Origi, rather than this new phenom who came alive towards the end of the campaign, with the\u00a0Ostend-born forward looking a shadow of the player who terrorised Barca’s backline only two months ago.<\/p>\n

It was an underwhelming performance from the majority of Liverpool in fairness to\u00a0Origi, who didn’t really have the requisite support to truly test the Napoli defence, with both\u00a0Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Georginio Wijnaldum struggling out wide.<\/p>\n