It was a night full of frustrations for a lot of different reasons for us after we endured a 2-2 draw in our opening Champions League game to Sevilla.
Our defensive frailties will continue to be the topic of much debate across the football stratosphere after last night only strengthened the issues being addressed. Dejan Lovren found himself at fault for Sevilla’s opener inside 5 minutes, failing to clear his lines and allowing Wissam Ben Yedder to slot home the ball unchallenged.
But this wasn’t the only suspect piece of defending from the Croatian who left question marks hanging over his positioning and timing numerously throughout. Hearing us Liverpool fans ask why our side failed to consolidate our backline following further evidence is starting to become like a broken record, except it’s rightfully questioned.
Matip is not without his critics but when paired with either Lovren or Klavan is made to look head and shoulders above each of his partners. It’s difficult to not feel frustrated that Klopp failed to account for the uncertainty of the Van Dijk transfer leaving us drastically insufficient in this position. Much of the talking points from games, certainly losses, will stem from this very problem.
I don’t think, however, that Klopp’s defensive organisation can be put into question. We can point the finger at his naivety or mishandling towards our transfer activity in this department but neither this, nor the City game are any indication of his incompetence defensively.
A game like last night never truly required much work in this department, more that we remained organised and alert to their breakaways. Unfortunately, this wasn’t as well managed as we’d like or expected and Sevilla exploited many of our weaknesses across the back line.
Karius endured a relatively quiet game in goal with the only 2 registered shots on target resulting in goals. It would be wrong for the young stopper to shoulder any blame for either goal; particularly the second which he tried his best to dismiss a moment of brilliance from Correa. His distribution, however, left a lot to be desired. If he is indeed to be our designated Champions League goalkeeper, he will need to improve his awareness and the speed of his kicks.
Firmino was the other notable disappointment last night. While we’re nothing short of attacking options, we are currently without a fully fit out-and-out striker in the side. Firmino has been assigned a false nine role in Klopp’s 4-3-3 system and despite a few spells of encouragement peppered throughout each game this season, his overall presence and attacking prowess isn’t quite the level we require. A fully fit Daniel Sturridge from a couple of seasons ago or a Luis Suarez would unquestionably have killed off that game last night before we allowed Sevilla a route back into it. Sadly, he was burdened with the turning point of the game after a missed penalty could easily be attributed to the final result.
Sevilla executed their game plan perfectly. They were comfortable sitting back and absorbing our pressure for large periods of the game and utilised the speed of Navas and Correa down either flank. Despite his goal, Ben Yedder was reasonably quiet. He failed to fully benefit from our weakness through the middle of the defence – of which Muriel exploited continuously after being substituted on, his finishing thankfully letting him down during the dying embers of the game to deny Sevilla all three points.
Coutinho’s reintroduction displayed some promising signs. Although a lot didn’t stick for the Brazilian magician, his tenacity and energy disproved the slanderous rumours surrounding his attitude prior to the game. His darting runs and attempts to create space were countlessly thwarted by Sevilla’s rigid set-up but this is something that will return to its former state once the playmaker receives more minutes.
The biggest question on this topic could be Klopp’s lack of proactivity in bringing Coutinho on, instead waiting for the reds to fall behind before making the substitution.
All in all, it could have been much worse than it was. I know that’s an optimistic outlook to have but I don’t think what we saw was all that discouraging. Defensively there’s a lot of work to be done. But we have one point after the most challenging game of our group and can rest easy in the knowledge that the two sides squaring off at Anfield last night will likely be the two to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.
Thoughts, Reds? Let us know below!
