Paolo Maldini once famously said that if he ever had to make a tackle then he’d already made a mistake whilst carrying out his defensive duties.
Still, football fans can’t help but admire last-ditch defending on highlights reels; clearances off the line, aesthetic sliding challenges… if you name it, there’s most likely a video out there of it.
Kostas Tsimikas’ intervention during Liverpool’s 5-1 thumping of West Ham, however, left much to be desired as far as aestheticism was concerned.
A seven-second clip shared on X (formerly Twitter) highlights a defensive mishap the Greek international will most likely wish to see deleted from the internet forever.
With Max Kilman in an extremely dangerous position inside the 18-yard box, the former Olympiakos star couldn’t get his body around in time to meet the threat. Consequently, the Greek Scouser slipped and hit the deck before Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher leapt in with a timely intervention to kill the danger.
Great work from Kelleher. And Tsimikas? Well… the mind was willing but the body was quite simply not!