Andy Robertson Reveals Jordan Henderson, James Milner's X-Rated Blast at Players

Andy Robertson has revealed Jordan Henderson and James Milner delivered an expletive-ridden blast to the Liverpool team on Sunday following their 3-0 friendly defeat to Napoli in Edinburgh. 

Liverpool have one more pre-season friendly against Lyon on Wednesday before they take on Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday.

Per the Mirror's Alex Richards, Robertson pulled no punches in his assessment of the Reds' performance, and it seems Henderson and Milner didn't, either:

"It wasn't good enough. We were miles off it. We were outplayed. At times we looked foolish by not pressing as a team.

"And we need to look at it and improve as our season starts in a week and it doesn't get any harder than Man City. We need to be a hell of a lot better than this.

"Jordan Henderson and James Milner pulled us in for a huddle on the pitch and what was said cannot be repeated until after 9 p.m.

"It's not crisis meetings, it's pre-season. But we can't get into a habit of losing or drawing. We need to step it up massively."

The Serie A side came out on top courtesy of first-half goals from Lorenzo Insigne and Arkadiusz Milik, and Amin Younes sealed it with a strike after the break.

It was the latest of several poor results from Liverpool in pre-season:

The Reds' preparations have not been helped by the absences of several key players who have been granted extended time off from club duties to recover from international exploits.

Alisson and Roberto Firmino won the Copa America with Brazil, while Sadio Mane reached the Africa Cup of Nations final with Senegal. Mohamed Salah made it to the round of 16 in the latter with Egypt.

Football writers Leanne Prescott and Joel Rabinowitz observed the team's struggles without their stars:

Liverpool open their Premier League campaign against Norwich City on August 9, and they could still be missing several key players if their fitness is lacking after not being involved in pre-season.

The Reds lost just one league match last season, but they stilled missed out on the title to Manchester City by one point.

Title-winners City have racked up 100 and 98 points, respectively, over the last two seasons, and if they manage to maintain their level for a third campaign running, then even a slightly slow start could have a significant impact on Liverpool's chances.

While a drop-off is inevitable when so many key players are missing, it's vital they find a way to pick up positive results until their stars are able to feature again.