Liverpool icon Phil Thompson reflects on a night of Molineux misery where Liverpool were bullied on the pitch and mocked in the margins after 2-1 defeat vs Wolverhampton Wanderers.
It takes a lot to get Phil Thompson truly riled up, but the sight of a Liverpool defender being treated like a training ground dummy and the perpetrator having a laugh about it has done exactly that.
If there is a way to describe the current state of Liverpool’s season to summarise a night at Molineux where Arne Slot’s side once again proved they are their own worst enemy it would be “shambolic”.
For the seventh time in just 29 Premier League games this season, the Reds were undone by a result-altering stoppage-time goal. But while the late collapse has become a recurring nightmare, it was an incident earlier in the match that left club legend Phil Thompson absolutely livid.
Thompson: “That cannot happen in professional football”
The former Liverpool captain was left incensed by an incident at a corner kick where Joe Gomez was unceremoniously shoved behind the goal line. What rankled Thompson most wasn’t just the foul it was the reaction of the Wolves player and the lack of a response from the Liverpool players.
Speaking on The Official Liverpool FC Podcast, Thompson fumed: “I’ve seen something happen there tonight that a guy just held on. I think it was to Joe Gomez, and he was laughing. That cannot happen in professional football.”
Thompson continued, highlighting a perceived lack of leadership on the field: “Nobody seems to say anything to the referee or captain. Nobody is going to the referee. This cannot happen in the game of professional football. Their player was laughing and he was looking the other way. I’m sure it was Joe Gomez [being manhandled].”
The WWE era of set pieces
The 2025/26 campaign has increasingly felt like it’s being officiated under extreme rules rather than the laws of the game. From the “impromptu WWE” seen in Everton v Manchester United to the grappling matches in Arsenal v Chelsea, the penalty area has become a lawless zone during corner kicks.
Even Slot has admitted his displeasure in the way football heading.
Gomez being shoved into the goalmouth was just the latest example of a trend that Arne Slot had indirectly touched upon. In his pre-match press conference, the Liverpool boss bemoaned the perceived lack of excitement in the English top flight this term.
While Slot wanted more spark, he surely didn’t mean his defenders being manhandled while the opposition laughed in their faces.
Deeper issues beyond the dark arts
The lack of punishment for blatant grappling is infuriating, but it shouldn’t serve as a smokescreen for Liverpool’s broader failings. This was an abysmally poor performance in a fixture that with the greatest of respect to the victors the Reds ought to be winning with conviction.
The most damning takeaway from Thompson’s critique is the image of a Liverpool side that has lost its “nasty” edge. It is near-impossible to imagine Thompson, or any of the greats from his era, turning a blind eye to a teammate being bullied in such a manner. Until the Reds find that collective fire again, they remain a “brittle” target for the league’s basement sides.
