Former Everton defender Johnny Heitinga took a brutal swipe at his previous employers in a training video posted by their arch rivals Liverpool.
Heitinga oversaw a shooting drill with Darwin Nunez, with mannequins set up as makeshift defenders.
2
But Heitinga saw an opportunity to take a thinly-veiled swipe at the Toffees and their leaky backline this season.
“It’s like Everton‘s defence,” Heitinga said of the inanimate mannequins as he passed the ball to Nunez, only for the Uruguayan to smack the crossbar with his effort.
From their first three Premier League matches, Everton have lost every game and shipped a league-leading 10 goals.
Sean Dyche‘s side also went into the international break on the back of a heartbreaking loss at Goodison Park against Bournemouth in which they were 2-0 up for 86 minutes, only to lose 3-2.
Despite their league woes, Everton do hold the bragging rights in the Merseyside derby after they beat Liverpool 2-0 in April thanks to goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Regardless, it was a brutal dig from Heitinga given he made 140 appearances for Everton throughout his five-and-a-half years at the club.
In that time, Everton never finished below 8th in the table and even made it to the semi final of the FA Cup in the 2011-12 season.
Despite representing Everton in his playing days, Heitinga crossed the city divide in July when he was appointed to new Reds boss Arne Slot’s staff as an assistant coach in July.
Prior to his move to Liverpool, Heitinga worked as an assistant to David Moyes at West Ham United for the 2023-24 season.
But now he’s using his expertise to help Slot at Melwood and so far it has paid off.
2
Liverpool are one of two sides to have taken maximum points from every game this season, including a 3-0 drubbing of bitter rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The Reds’ attacking unit has been on fire too as Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah have both scored three goals.
Liverpool’s defence has also been rock solid to start the campaign and are the only team yet to have conceded a goal this season.
Slot’s side will look to keep the momentum rolling when they welcome Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
JOIN THE DUGOUT
Have your say on all things talkSPORT by joining ‘The DUGOUT’ – our new listener panel.
We’re all about diving deep into your perspectives, and making sure talkSPORT is the absolute best it can be. Your voice matters, and we want to hear it!
Pitch your game-changing ideas, and join in with fun surveys, polls, and locker-room discussions.
Just by joining, you’ll enter a prize draw to win one of four £50 Amazon vouchers, with another prize draw entry for every survey you complete after that
To join the ‘The DUGOUT’ panel, please click here.
