Former Liverpool player Steve Nicol has said the club "do not have one decent defender" following their 3-0 loss at Manchester United on Sunday.
Liverpool spurned a number of goal-scoring chances at Old Trafford, with goalkeeper David de Gea in inspired form, and United made them pay for some poor defending as goals from Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin van Persie clinched the win.
Nicol was encouraged by the attacking play of Brendan Rodgers' side but was not impressed with their mistakes at the back, in particular when a weak Dejan Lovren clearance allowed Mata to find Van Persie for the third goal.
He said on ESPN FC TV: "If we're going from the performance, particularly against Basel, and the performances so far this season then there are positives to take from this.
"Losing 3-0 looks bad, looks a disaster, but the truth of the matter is Liverpool created more chances in one game than they have in any other game all season -- that has to be a positive.
"I sat here last week and said that Brendan Rodgers has to find a way of getting this team to be positive, to be energetic and active, and play with their heart, and create some chances and hopefully score goals.
"Now, they did all those things apart from scoring goals. That's a positive. But, again, this performance rubberstamped that Liverpool do not have one decent defender in the squad. The defence was absolutely atrocious.
"The icing cake was the last goal involving Lovren. The clearance was schoolboy."