'If they had played like that for most of season, they would have competed for title'
[Getty Images] Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock believes the Reds could have been Premier League title contenders had they performed all season in the same manner as they did in their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Paris St-Germain. Arne Slot's side provided a much-improved display and threatened to launch a comeback at Anfield before eventually being picked off on the counter-attack and recording another 2-0 defeat to exit 4-0 on aggregate. "There was a real desire about the team to try to get a result," Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.
"They lifted the crowd and the crowd lifted them as well. They gave the crowd something to get off their seats about, there was an energy about them. "I don't know where it's been.
If they had played like that for most of the season, they would have been competing for the title. "However, they still fell short in terms of really creating anything major and very clear. "Paris St-Germain defended well at times, but I still think Liverpool are lacking some energy in wide areas with players who are direct.
[Rio] Ngumoha came on but you could see his naivety at times. "They are missing something at the moment, but [it was] a better performance. " Warnock added: "PSG don't carry men.
Liverpool carry players and it's incredible. They carry [Florian] Wirtz, they carry [Mohamed] Salah, they carried [Alexander] Isak in the first half. "You can't carry players.