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Thierry Henry took aim at Vinicius Jnr 's performance against Liverpool, questioning why he didn't provide more of a challenge for Conor Bradley as Real Madrid drew a blank in front of goal for the first time this season. Despite their struggles in recent weeks the Reds stepped up to down the La Liga leaders with Alexis Mac Allister heading home the winning goal just after the hour mark. It is the second time in as many seasons that Los Blancos have come to Anfield and been beaten. Real struggled to create chances as both Vinicius and Kylian Mbappe failed to register a shot on target. The Brazilian has been in and out of form and recently issued an apology after ranting when he was subbed off in a La Liga game. He came up against a player in Bradley who, whilst impressing, is still learning his trade at full-back but Henry couldn't believe that Vinicius didn't put more pressure on him. He told CBS Sports : "I do not understand it. You have to play with what’s in front of you, you have to play the moment. Vinicius Jr had Conor Bradley for the first five to seven minutes, and then he let him breathe. Why do you let him breathe? Have a go until he gets a yellow card and then he can’t defend in the same way, but that didn’t happen. Referencing specific situations the former Arsenal man added: "When we watched the game, Vinicius Jr received the ball in a one-on-one after a good battle in the first five minutes against Conor Bradley, and he passed it back to his left-back to receive it back… and now it was a one-vs-three. "Then he attacked alone against the three of them, and I thought, wait, do the math. You had a one-on-one, try to see what you can do with that. Why do you move the ball back so it comes back to you and you can play a one-vs-three? I just don’t get it at times." Former Real star Gareth Bale agreed with Henry's point, questioning why they didn't use their pace to trouble their opponents, and highlighting that the lack of an out and out No 9 is perhaps hampering them. He said: "I think it was that spark that Thierry and I were talking about, that we didn’t see Mbappe and Vinicius in the final third work a bit of magic and bring Madrid back into the game. It was a bit disappointing that in that final third there really wasn’t that kind of quality that you expect from Real Madrid players. "It’s frustrating, I think they complicate things maybe. Sometimes they just need to try and test the defender. They’re clearly faster than anyone else on the pitch. But I think maybe they don’t do it because there’s no one else in the box waiting for the crosses. Maybe they need that focal number nine." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
