After Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge ran riot at Southampton in midweek, Christian Benteke wasn’t expected to start for Liverpool at St James’ Park.
But the £32m man was selected by Jurgen Klopp and struggled to justify his inclusion in the first half, missing a golden chance and struggling against a defence that shipped five goals to Crystal Palace last time out.
It certainly looked like he wasn’t making the right sort of impression.
Christian Benteke completed just one forward pass in the opening 40 minutes vs. Newcastle. pic.twitter.com/z5TfGlwM2b
— Squawka (@Squawka) December 6, 2015
And the response was predictable.
Benteke is a second late to everything.
— DaveOCKOP (@DaveOCKOP) December 6, 2015
You'd be feeling hard done by if u were Studge & Origi scoring 2 & a hat trick to sit on the bench & see a performance like that frm Benteke
— OnlyBuilt4CubanLinx🇯🇲 (@OnlyBuilt4CL) December 6, 2015
Reds fans stopped short of criticising Klopp for the selection, but widely agreed that the Belgian wasn’t the right man for the occasion.
Trouble with Benteke is that there’s zero pressing. If your strikers press it seems to set the tempo. Good player, but “low energy”.
— Paul Tomkins (@paul_tomkins) December 6, 2015
But there’s always someone who has to take it too far.
I RATHER HAVE DAVID N'GOG OVER BENTEKE
— Coutinho (@euro5lfc) December 6, 2015
