MUCH has been said and written about Liverpool FC’s defence this season.
Understandably so, as we have looked vulnerable all the way, particularly from crosses/set pieces and when losing possession.
The latter shouldn’t come as a big surprise though; most teams look vulnerable when giving away the ball on their way forward. Especially teams who set up their attacks like Liverpool do, with split centre-backs and fullbacks high up the pitch.
It takes courage and concentration to play this way, and when the players aren’t fully comfortable with it or sloppy mistakes occur, it can get ugly because of the space that needs to be covered to make up for it.
We see it with other teams who build their attacks in a similar way. The likes of Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona are also punished from time to time because of making similar mistakes to what Liverpool do. We are not the only ones to piss in our own glass now and then…(I have no idea if that even makes sense, but you know what I mean).
So, what do we do to iron out the wrinkles and cut down on the mistakes? Is it a case of not having the right players to play like we do, or is it all about practice makes perfect? What can we expect in terms of players in and players out this summer; what will our defence look like in terms of personnel when 2013/14 kicks off?
These are questions I guess we all ask ourselves on a fairly regular basis, and if you are anything like me you usually get different answers every time. Some days Coates and Skrtel are both leaving, other days one of them is staying. Some days Kelly and Wisdom are sufficient backup, other days I don’t know what to do with them. Are they fullbacks or centre-backs?
The only thing we know for certain (if anything at all is a given at top level football) is that we have got four out of five at the back more or less sorted. Reina, Johnson and Agger will probably be here next season, and I also think Enrique has done enough to convince Rodgers that shopping for a starting left-back should be low on his list of priorities – meaning there is a significant Carragher-shaped void needing to be filled. NOT by Ashley Wiliams, by the way. That would be a huge mistake for me. But I digress…
[ad_pod id=”unruly-video” align=”center”]
I will not start naming names. Not here, not now. That can wait until post-season depression kicks in. Except NOT Ashley Williams.
But I would be interested to know what Brendan Rodgers thinks about the composition of his defence next season, both in terms of the types of players he wants and the sheer number of bodies. Personally I think the most important transfer this summer will be to get that commanding presence who can match the likes of Kenwyne Jones, Romelu Lukaku, Jan Vertonghen, Vincent Kompany etc. But he needs to be able to play as well, and also cover a bit of ground when needed. We basically need a mobile version of Sami Hyypiä.
And that’s just to complete the first choice defence. What about the backup? The mentioned Kelly and Wisdom probably hold the key to how the defensive part of the squad will look when the next campaign kicks off. Do we think they are both up for it?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section; whether it’s about Ashley Williams or not, it’s all good. Or you can find me on Twitter @ChristerEikrem and abuse me for stealing your precious time…
[ad_pod id=’DFP-MPU’ align=’right’]
Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at live4liverpool@snack-media.com
Follow us on Twitter here: @live4Liverpool and ‘Like’ us on Facebook
There is nothin wrong with our defenders .we were rock solid last season .all our defenders are class
The problem is Rodgers naive and open system. Also his lack of organization st set plays and picking weak useless midfielders like Allen is the cause of our shambolic defending
Correct. It’s the manager not players
The incompetent manager is d problem. Rogers out
Its not just the defenders. We are not good defensively as a team. I believe you build a team from the defence going forward. If you can stop the opposing team from scoring, you give yourself 90 minutes to score one goal and win.
Spot on we have developed into a attacking team and the full backs are getting forward more than some wingers, what we need to learn is the filling in when they’re attacking. Under Rafa we were a counter attacking team defending deep then hitting teams on random breaks but we had Stevie at his peak and the best striker in the world at the time, also we had Xabi no need to describe what he could do. We have conceded some sloppy goals mainly due to defensive mistakes including Pepe unfortunately we haven’t got away with these mistakes quite often punished with dropped points. Hopefully next season the players will be better focused especially defending, I totally believe that BR is the man to take us forward give the guy a chance we are LFC and we don’t want to turn into some club who sacks managers left right and centre consistency is the key right throughout the club
You sack the manager if he is poor – and Rodgers really is poor . Totally clueless.
Keeping a poor manager is not clever. He has worse record than any other , and he has spent over 50 million
err , we have consistency . under rodgers we are consistently mediocre . how is that helping ? we got it wrong picking rodgers – very wrong .
Rodgers out !!!!!
I prefer Joe Allen to Charlie Adam anytime of the day, am not sure Wenger or Mancini or any manager in the league would have done any better with the squad BR had at the begining of the season. I’d like to see liverpool challenging for the title but somehow bringing in Mourinho is not the solution we will just end up like Chelsea/City constantly needing to spend large amounts of money every other season
You joking ? Any decent manager would have done a lot better than Rodgers . He has been awful.
And Allen ? The weakest midfielder in the history of the prem .totally useless
Rodgers fault. He couldn’t organize a defence to save his life.
BR is not a top coach, and i believe he can’t manage a top club like liverpool the way the fans want it. Liverpoolfc have one of the best youth players. Talking about defence we were rock solid last season under king dalglish is just dat the goals weren’t coming…. To me BR is not a motivator n is a manager dat doesn’t av target and aim…… Long live king dalglish, long live liverpool…… i will advice to replace BR with our living legend sami hypia, he is doing great at his current club.