Quantcast
Featured

Shaky back four needs to sharpen up

|
Image for Shaky back four needs to sharpen up

LFC defenceOUR back four is creaking.

Whilst we have just played two of the best teams in the country, we have had some weaknesses massively exposed and they are weaknesses that we need addressing urgently.

I have been banging on about our inability to keep clean sheets since September. We’re always good for a goal and have taken the lead in our last two games. But because we give so many cheap goals away (usually from a set piece) we aren’t always winning games we should.

Even the goalkeeper, who I have been praising all season long, has started to make clangers that are costing us points. Whilst Mignolet has plenty of credit after some of his outstanding performances earlier in the season he was at fault for Negredo’s goal at the Etihad and I thought he should have done a lot better with Eto’o’s eventual winner at Stamford Bridge.

If the Belgian is in credit, then Martin Skrtel and particularly Glen Johnson are purveyors of bad debt. Skrtel’s core defending is pretty good, he reads the game well and makes some fantastic last ditch challenges. But he is currently a liability and had Sakho not come off injured in the closing stages on Sunday I would be calling for him to be dropped.

He was too busy trying to foul Kompany at the Etihad to stop him from getting his header in and he completely switched off to allow Eto’o to get in front of him at Chelsea. He has also been lucky to not concede several penalties in recent weeks, especially against Cardiff at Anfield. If he concentrated on defending he could be a very good player but you always fear that he has a catastrophe lurking around the corner.

This is something that he urgently needs to address – start winning headers instead of trying to swap shirts. He’s good with the ball at his feet and is a good attacking threat at set pieces but he is swiftly becoming a big danger to us.

But my biggest worry is Glen Johnson. The full back has been in awful form in the last few months and it seems to correlate with a spate of rumours circulating about his contract. When he was injured there were whispers circulating that the American owners had offered Johnson a new contract on reduced terms from summer 2014.

Whilst I’m not saying this is the case, I will absolutely say that some of his performances have become lazy, disinterested and damaging to the team. His defensive positioning has always been suspect but the other facets of his game have been way off recently. His touch is heavy and his passing sloppy and lazy.

Maybe he’s injured or just in a poor rut of form, but I think Glen Johnson’s body language is all wrong. And he needs to remedy this issue very quickly, because we can’t afford people to ball watch as he did with Hazard for Chelsea’s equaliser. A spectacular finish it might have been, but Johnson just let Hazard run past him and was nowhere to be seen as he slammed the ball in.

We’re fifth, and there’s no cause to panic just yet. If we beat Hull on New Year’s Day (and we had better) then there’s some normality restored and we’re back in the saddle. We haven’t become bad at defending overnight and we have been dealing with some good players in the past week or so. But we are now at the point where we have to be asking whether or not some players are worth their place in the team, because individual mistakes are at severe risk of costing us our excellent start to the season to date.

Share this article

I'm a fully trained journalist who shunned a career in the profession due to my disillusionment with the tabloid press, instead hoping to become a professional author. I've written for The Liverpool Way for 7 years and am a regular on the forum using the name Agt Provocateur.

A passionate member of supporter group Kop Faithful, I've been a season ticket holder of 8 years and a regular match goer since 1995.

When not criticising diminishing refereeing standards in football, I can be found at Langtree Park, the home of St Helens Rugby League Club being highly critical of non existent standards of refereeing in Rugby League. I'm is also a massive Lancashire and England cricket fan.

23 comments

  • shawnreid says:

    Teams are cutting through the midfield with such ease its frightening this whole season Liverpools midfield opperating at about 70 percent

  • Marshall says:

    Rodgers should take a leaf from wenger and hire a defence specialist to assist the backline…pity we dont have alternatives to bench johnson til after the world cup.our goalkeeper needs a proper gk coach not the clown that was trainin pepe…

  • Erin says:

    We played well in both games but our defenders have been shocking. Mignolet have now bottled two big games. Two goals that we shouldn’t have to see again….. But special mention is for me Johnson. Either shape up or go back to Pompey. Sorry, each time we tried to put an attack together, it broke down because of him. Finally, praise for Rogers from me (I’ve been his biggest critic). You are learning Mr. Get the top 4 and you might convince me you are the right man!
    YNWA

    • Liam says:

      Don’t be hasty about Rodgers Erin . He has had everything going his way , and we are still only 5th . 5th is not good enough . And most of his signings are rubbish.

  • Marshall says:

    Rodgers should take a leaf from wenger and hire a defence specialist to assist the backline…pity we dont have alternatives to bench johnson til after the world cup.our goalkeeper needs a proper gk coach not the clown that was trainin reina

  • CHUKWUEMEKA says:

    skrtel dropped?, most times i find it difficult to believe this comes from liverpool fans.

    skrtel in one of the main reasons why lfc is still in the race. esp with the midfield leaving our defence exposed and our 3 at the back system.

    as for the goal, yes he should be done better. but what about considering for a second if he was wary of an attacker behind him and wanted to be in check in case of a cut back pass (which teams like bayern, barca, dortmund and spain are fond of). i know its chelsea but as a defender of skrtels standards a lot of things go on in your head at the same time and it doesn’t help when you are exposed. that pass shouldn’t have gone through in the first place.

  • tino says:

    U guys are just blabbing cos until we bring in a confident ball playing and speedy center back then we must always struggle.Like it or not Lucas and esp Skrtel is our problem I don’t support Lfc with sentimentality I will say the truth:Last season Br brought in Carragher towards end of season we kept clean sheets against Wigan,norwich,Qpr,westham,swansea,n’castle etc .then against Southampton Skrtel was brought and immediately from kickoff our defence looked shaky,Ok against mancity we were winning 2:1 and Skrtel was introduce only to allow Aguero to nick an undeserved draw from unbelievable angle.Guys stop supporting players with sentiment.Ok let me put it this way lfc as a whole just unlike Jamie k my man.

  • stevie says:

    Relieved sakho is injured to be honest. Agger and skrtel much better

  • tino says:

    Stevie and Aaron I told u guys that if we lose Chelski away,Fsg and Brendan will act fast.Now Tello and Salah may watch our game against Hull from the director’s box.I told u guys I have studied Br and Fsg well even our players.Any question about what each lfc player can do on the pitch just ask me.

  • Ozred says:

    Sakho swapping shirts with eto at half time when we r 2 1 down… Embarrassing!!!.

    Still plenty to work with and in a pretty good position. If we r good enough we will qualify top 4

  • tino says:

    Stevie and Aaron I told u guys that if we lose Chelski away,Fsg and Brendan will act fast.Now Tello and Salah may watch our game against Hull from the director’s box.I told u guys I have studied Br and Fsg well even our players.Any question about what each lfc player can do on the pitch just ask me.Less I forget Johnson has joined Lucas as craps.

    • aaron says:

      Tino. Fair point, however I was saying they would act regardless of outcome of those two games. Everyone knows we have a small squad that is sort on top class quality. To be successful we need a larger group of really good players to call on. If we beat City and.Chelski, FSG would sanction January spending spree just as much as now we have lost. The players who ‘ may ‘ watch from directors box, when was that organised? For all we know that could have been arranged for some time.

      Not trying to argue just see things differently and not saying I’m right or you wrong, just how I see it.

      If we could get Suso back that would be cool, this cat is silky.

  • tino says:

    Stevie and Aaron I told u guys that if we lose Chelski away,Fsg and Brendan will act fast.Now Tello and Salah may watch our game against Hull from the director’s box.I told u guys I have studied Br and Fsg well even our players.Any question about what each lfc player can do on the pitch just ask me.Less I forget Johnson has joined Lucas as craps.Am happy cos everybody know even if we manage to win Mancicky or Chelski away it’s out of lucky as far as we continue to win our winnable games.But remember guys 3 point is 3 point no matter the opponent.Sunland won Mancity but where are they? And more over we will kick the hell out Mansicky and esp chelsicky when they come to town.Am absolutely proud of Brendan but Johnson and co three point against Hull am happy.

  • Denis D says:

    The problems are and have been there for a while, we are playing good football. But the best teams in world don’t win trophies on their first 11, they win trophies due to their Squads.

    Our Squad is pathetcially thin and weak, we are supposed to have a 25 man squad. But only 12 /14 of them are class and quality.

    There is no real class quality competiton for places in key areas within the squad Our club are 10-12 players short of a good powerful squad

    Mignolet GK has made two huge mistakes in two huge big games that has cost the team 4 points, but as he has no real class quality competition for his place he will be playing against Hull. J Hart was benched by Pellegrini due to his stupid mistakes for a few games, now he is getting back to his best and doesn’t want to be on the bench again.

    Mignolet like Reina did prior is too comfortable, no matter how poorly he plays he will be playing the next game, same is said about these key players :

    G Johnson RB in the last 4 games he has been a joke, offered nothing in attack or defence but he has been in team next game.

    Same is with these players: Gerrard(33), Lucas(26), Suarez(26), Sturridge(24), Coutinho(21) and Enrique(27). There is no really competition for the wingers position at our club

    Due to the fact they have no class, quality competition for their positions , They are all too comfortable and complacency creeps in.

    During the next two Transfer windows: January and the summer:

    The owners need to Back B Rodgers well with 60-70m in January and the same amount in the summer : As the squad needs 120-140M pumped in the squad.

    In January the priority should be: DM, CM, RW / RWF, LW / LWF and a FD

    1: DM: Y M’Vila(23) Of Rubin Kazan or Fernando(26) Of Porto, one of these Mobile, Physical, Tough tackling Defensive Midfielders needs to be brought to club 4-14m

    2: CM: Y Cabaye(27) Of Newcastle Or I Rakitic(25) Of Seville, One of these class,creative, quality , goalscoring centre midfielders needs to be brought to club for 8-20M

    3: RW / RWF: M Salah(21) Of Basel for 8-12M to compete and Cover Sterling

    4 LW / LWF: B Arfa(26) Of Newcastle Or D Capel(25) Of Sporting Clube De Portugal for 7-15M to compete and Cover with IBE , so we can send V Moses(22) back to Chelsea on loan as he has been a waste of a loan.

    5: FD: L Remy(26) Of QPR ( On Loan at Newcastle) should be brought for 6-10M to come and compete with Sturridge

    And In the summer these positions should be strengthened: GK, RB, LB and two players to take over from our inspirational Captain Fantastic in the next 2-5 years:

    1: GK: A Mccarthy(24) Of Reading needs to be brought to my club for 4-7M to compete and cover Mignolet(25) for next 5-8 years at club

    2: RB M Montoya(22) Of Barcelona needs to be brought to club for 3-6M to compete, Cover and take over from Johnson(28) in the next year or two

    3: LB: S Umtiti(20) Of Lyon needs to be brought to club for 4-7M to compete,cover and take over from Enrique(27) in the 2-3 years

    Two players who would replace our amazing loyal long serving captain fantastic S Gerrard(33) who will be 34 by the end of May

    4: CM: Koke(21) Of A Madrid or E Banega(25) Of Valencia for 15-20M
    5: AM: A Lallana(25) Of Southampton Or I Munian(21) Of A Bilbao for 14-18M

    Some serious investment in the squad is needed and has been needed, whilst most of the average dead wood players at the club need to be shipped out as soon as possible:

    GK B Jones
    RB Kelly( Too Injury Prone)
    LB Cissokho ( needs to be sent back to Valencia)
    CB Coates
    AM Alberto
    RW / RWF Assaidi
    FD Aspas
    FD Borini

  • Jerry says:

    Well-written article… I’ve finally found someone who saw that both Skrtel and Johnson are utter rubbish… I’ve been saying that they were not up to the mark at Anfield since Rafa’s days… Even when Skrtel got the player of the year award at Pool, I was still skeptical on why the award went to him… And up till today, i still remember that someone berated me for under-rating Skrtel…

    Skrtel is definitely a time bomb and he often self destructs at a bad time during our games… And referees are not blind… It’s just that they’ll return the similar advantage back to the opposition at the appropriate time… Johnson, on the other hand, offers nothing down the right flank from day 1 and is extremely inconsistent as well as lazy and i seriously wonder why he is still at Anfield today…

  • Kopz44 says:

    It wont take long for people to realize we wasted 16M£ on Sakho.Slow and lazy and gifts the opposition assists.Liability.
    Skrtel for me is our best defender thus far but he is marred with occasional blunders.Still Yards better than Sakho!On Johnson he is defo poor ATM…

  • CHUKWUEMEKA says:

    Dennis, sometimes you ve to marry realism with optimism.

    MIGNOLET, “JOHNSON” have become complacent. i wld ve recommended my keeper V. ENYEAMA (and i recommended him as backup for reina ‘when he was in the bench at lyon on loan from hapoel’ before we unbelievably loaned out pepe) but realistically he wld no longer come to england until after the world cup if the offer is too dazzling.
    1. LILLE (the club he is currently on loan at) fans have taken to him like fishes to water.
    2. RENE GIRRARD (lille coach) knows him better than most coaches and wld do almost anything to make sure he finally signs him fulltime.
    3. he thinks english wld insult anyone not english. (he has always wanted to play in then english league until wenger offerred him $1mil for 3yrs as ‘back up keeper’ after he denied messi 9 goal scoring chances at the w/cup ‘and i strongly believe it had a mighty effect on messi not scoring in the tournament)
    4. he is currently the best keeper in france at the moment, why wld he swap it for cont

  • CHUKWUEMEKA says:

    ‘cont’ uncertainty in the epl. so realistically, i wld stick with your choice of alex mccarthy even though i want the best.

    wld Ivan rakitic fit in? YES! but, we lost him the same time we lost arda turan, this guys were waiting for us to make bids and sign them up, they were practically begging us but we kept playing hardball until they were given new contracts. the result they ve £30+mil release clause each, so nothing less than 20mil will start their bid and you and i know their worth lies around the 15mil mark max. so cabaye is more realistic.

    we wld buy salah in jan but i dont know how interested in villa rodgers or fsg is. i dont know much about fernando except from what i ve read but villa wld be perfect, it wld only take him a few weeks to get disciplined in the role for the club.

    I think fsg or rodgers should make a £9mil flat bid for both mitroglou and remy respectively. i wldn’t like to ve tello on loan, we ve seen v. moses and am dissapointed cos i used to rate him before he ‘cont’

  • CHUKWUEMEKA says:

    he came to lfc and we know the moses we saw against swansea is different from the ones we ve been seeing ever since after. his (moses) heart (like tello) isnt in liverpool. as a nigerian i ve had the oppurtunity of taking a closer look of his performance and i know it has nothing to do with form. MOSES SHOULD BE KICKED BACK TO CHELSEA IN JANUARY!!!!! and i dont want his kind.

    talking abt gerrard replacement, i dont its possible, he can’t be replaced whether we like it or not unless we ve a buy back clause on shelvy (though he needs to work on his pace). I see us adopting a 3-4-3 or 4-2-4 formation once gerrard is retires but the formation depends on our 2 D/Midfielders, the signs ve been their in our last couple of matches without stevie, just that we dont ve the D/Mids to play it to perfection. those counters against city an cfc are testament to it…YNWA

    • Denis D says:

      To CHUKWUEMEKA,

      The thing is if the owners/FSG are really serious about contending for the champions league year in year out and for the league title, they have to invest serious money in order for us to get a good powerful strong squad that can compete on all fronts year in year out.

      And if the owners seriously want or expect us to get back in Champions league and get back the days of old serious investment is needed.

      Our club has had a weaker squad than the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Man United, Tottenham for the last 5 years and a half.

      And its the calibre and class other teams have brought to their clubs: They have brought more class and quality to their club dead wood average players:

      Whereas over the last 4-5 years proven class and quality of

      Arsenal have brought in the likes of Arteta, Cazorla, Ozil, Podolski, Giroud

      Chelsea have brought in De Bruyne, Hazard, Luiz, Mata, Oscar, Ramires and Lukaku

      Man United brought in Carrick, Young, Valencia, Hernandes, Van Persie and Kagawa

      Man City have brought in Yaya Toure, Dzeko, Balotelli, Silva, Nasri, Fernandinho, Navas, Negredo and Jovetic

      Tottenham have brought in Adebayor, Modric, Van der Vaart, Parker, Sandro, Dembele, Paulinho and Soldado

      Where we have brought in the likes of Poulsen, Carroll, Adams, J Cole, Allen, Alberto, Llori, Assaidi, Borini, Coates.

      And poor loan signings: Cissokho,Sahin and Moses

      We have brought some class quality players during the 4 -5 years but they were shipped out or not given a run of 6-12 games on the trot in side or just sold on to make way for other players: Aquilani and Meireles

      While we have brought in some class quality signings recently: Coutinho, Sturridge, Mignolet, Sakho and Toure.

      But in last 4- 5 years the club has brought in more dead wood average players than Class , quality ones and that is why we have a pathetically weak squad. But we have good class quality 11-13 players ( Mignolet, Johnson, Agger, Sakho, Skrtel, Toure, Enrique, Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson, Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez)

      10-11 players are needed in next two transfer windows to change our pathetically weak squad into a league contender/champions league squad:

      So if owners keep claiming they want to get us back to top, they need to put their money where there mouths are:

      Our club and Everton are the only top rivals who have loaned players in and out: That shows you where are squad is:

      Whereas Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Man United and Tottenham loan players out:

      And Rodgers needs to stop bringing average dead wood players to club
      He needs to start bringing players of the same calibre and class of our best and top players:

      And players who will adapt to the league straight away:

      That is why in January out of the 5 players i said Rodgers should bring to club: 3 of them are playing their trade in the premiership now and would not have trouble adapting to the physicality and speed of the league.

      1: CM: Y Cabaye(27) Of Newcastle for 16-20M Cabaye would not need time to settle and would bring more steel, more class, creativity and goals to team from centre of park

      2: LW / LWF: B Arfa(26) Of Newcastle for 12-14M would be create and score goals playing for side.

      3: FD: L Remy(26) Of QPR ( on loan at Newcastle) Proven Goalscorer: Who if came to club in January would guarantee the club 6-12 goals before season ends as we still are in FA CUP

      And the other two players:

      4: DM: M’Vila(23) Of Rubin Kazan Or Fernando(26) Of Porto for 4-14M both of these are mobile physical tough tackling no nonsense Defensive midfielders, And i am sure that either one of them would adapt to the league quickly

      5: RW / RWF: M Salah(21) Of Basel is a winger with electric pace and has good touch, good skill and may take a bit of time to adjust to the speed or physicality of league but when he does, any full back he comes against in league will be in for gruelling game

      And there will never be a player like Gerrard(33) at club, but there is no way that Allen and Henderson could fill the hole S Gerrard(33) will leave when he hangs his boots up.

      But two players would try to replace most of the class and quality our captain fantastic has brought to club and side for so many years:

      But in Koke(21) Of A Madrid Or E Banega(25) Of Valencia for 15-20M CM
      One of these players would bring the class, creativity, dominating play, getting stuck in , tackling in centre of park that our captain fantastic has done for numerous season after season

      In A Lallana(24) Of Southampton or I Munian(21) Of A Bilbao for 14-20M
      One of these would bring the class, creativity, mobility, movement and goals to centre of park that our captain has done consistantly over the years.

      That is why two players will be needed to fill the hole our captain fantasic S Gerrard(33) Will leave when he decides it is time to hang up his boots.

  • max says:

    After the deafeat at Chelsea, it clearly shows we need more quality players coming from the sub bench. Dont forget if we dont finish in the top 4, suarez in his contract has been given the go ahead to leave.

    They have to buy players who will make a immdiate impact. No more potential players, we have enough of them, in Alberto, Assaidi, Borini, etc..

    We are i say two or three players from getting a guaranteed spot frothe champions league

Comments are closed.