English soccer giants Liverpool were expected to have an absolute storm of a season this year but it’s just not quite worked out for them. Under the leadership of charismatic manager Jurgen Klopp as well as a few of the younger squad members beginning to develop into borderline world stars, it was all looking so positive for Liverpool. But up to now it just wasn’t meant to be.
Why aren’t Liverpool playing as well as they should be?
The simple and obvious answer is that their defense simply isn’t good enough. Going forward the Liverpool line-up is amongst the strongest in the league. The preferred front three of Mane, Firmino, and Coutinho is a combination capable of troubling any defense in the Premier League. Even the attacking squad depth is pretty impressive. Although unbearably inconsistent and injury prone, on his day Daniel Sturridge is a player capable of coming up with something special and Liverpool have a bright spark in youngster Divock Origi. The problems arise when you look towards the midfield and defensive areas of the Liverpool squad. The midfield doesn’t deserve too much criticism. It’s not a spectacular midfield but in my opinion at least in Henderson, Lallana, Wijnaldum and Can the side have a respectable set of players capable of doing a job in the center of the soccer field.
But the real problems arise in the defense What a mess. First for a fair few years now Liverpool fans have wanted to see Mignolet replaced by a better goalkeeper. He’s by no means the worst keeper around but he’s too error prone to be at a side that should be looking to challenge for the title. Now it’s very easy to criticise the man that Klopp has brought in but I’m a firm believer that the goalkeeping position is the most difficult on the field and it’s often a position where players need time to progress. That man of course is German Loris Karius. Although he’s made a fairly miserable start to his career at Liverpool it’s important to remember he’s only 23 years of age. Most people will happily say now that David De Gea is one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League and even the world. But when he joined Manchester United, he was absolutely horrific. So although Karius has been disappointing up to now, De Gea is perfect evidence that at 23 years old, he’s too young to give up on just yet. Klopp being a manager who is very good at nurturing young players must see something in Karius and so if I was a Liverpool fan I would have faith in the long run.
Then you turn to the back four. Firstly there are some positions that simply need to be clarified. Although he’s had some fairly impressive performances there, James Milner simply isn’t a left back and Lucas Leiva isn’t a center back. In my opinion feeling forced to play these players out of position is a clear indication that Klopp has no faith in either of Moreno or new signing Klavan.
To improve this side Liverpool have to dig deep in their pockets and sign a leading centre back at the least. To be honest since his retirement I wouldn’t say that Jamie Carragher has ever been replaced and he was a huge leader not only in the defence but also the side. If Liverpool are to make one big signing in the summer it MUST be an established centre-back who also possesses good leadership qualities to tighten up and organise this defence on the field. Currently there are no obvious options available but given his transfers at Borussia Dortmund I’d have every faith in Jurgen Klopp to come up with a good solution to his currently miserable defensive weaknesses.
