Liverpool Transfer Target Guilherme Siqueira Isn't an Upgrade from Jose Enrique

Liverpool transfer target Guilherme Siqueira isn't an upgrade from José Enrique but will compete for a starting position.

The Daily Star believe the Reds and Everton may bid for the Granada left-back, while Football Espana is reporting that Real Madrid will sign Siqueira. 

Now you're probably wondering: "How good is this Siqueira lad?"

The 27-year-old Brazilian's last season was underwhelming in comparison to his 2011-12 season when he was included in Sid Lowe's La Liga Team of the Season. 

Let's break down Siqueira as a defender.

EXAMPLE ONE: Éver Banega swings the ball out to an on-rushing João Pereira, who has taken advantage of Siqueira's poor positioning. This ends up with Pereira sending in an uncontested cross for Roberto Soldado to score.  

EXAMPLE TWO: Siqueira expects Málaga to attack right-back Juan Manuel Ortiz, so the Brazilian is jogging back into position rather than running. Instead, Roque Santa Cruz executes a perfect cross-field ball to Diego Buonanotte, who's occupying the vacant space left by Siqueira, leading to a Santa Cruz goal.  

EXAMPLE THREE: Dorlan Pabón was on the 8-ball whereas Siqueira was ball-watching. The difference resulting in Pabón latching onto Rubén Castro's through-ball and scoring, despite Siqueira's last-ditched tackle which would have been a block if he was aware of Pabón's run several milliseconds earlier. 

The recurring theme with Siqueira's defending is his inability to deal with off-the-ball movement, which was encapsulated when he was outfoxed by Alejandro Alfaro. 

This play involves Mallorca's Giovani dos Santos skipping past Iñigo López and sending the ball across goal for Alfaro to score. Replay the video, but pause it at the one second mark. 

Siqueira (red shirt) is just below the first Luanvi logo and Alfaro (black shirt) is below the second Luanvi logo. 

Watch the movement of the two players and you'll notice just how clueless Siqueira is. 

How good is his tackling?

LEAGUE ONLY	TPG	IPG	WhoScored
Enrique	2.5	1.2	TPG = tackles per game
Siqueira	2.2	2.4	IPG = interceptions per game

Siqueira is a solid ball-winner capable of dominating one-dimensional wide attacking midfielders.

Though like Enrique, Siqueira struggles immensely when up against cunning players capable of making smart runs. 

You can say that Siqueira's offensive output (six goals and three assists in league-play) compensated for his shoddy defending. 

But if he joins Liverpool, his chances of scoring dramatically diminish as all six of his goals came from the penalty spot—that role at the Reds belongs to Steven Gerrard.

With the exception of taking penalties and crossing, Siqueira's attacking prowess is below-par. 

• He loses possession 70 percent of the time he attempts a dribble. 

• 583 players in Europe's elite leagues had a higher shots created per game average than Siqueira (0.7).

• Siqueira misplaces a pass 30.1 percent of the time.

• His passing completion percentage (69.9) is 14.1 percent lower than the Liverpool average (84.0). 

LEAGUE ONLY	G/A	SCPG	C%	P%	DPG	DS%	WhoScored/Squawka
Enrique	2/4	0.9	10.3	76.7	1.0	54	G/A= goals/assists
Siqueira	6/3	0.7	24.2	69.9	0.9	30	C% = crossing percentage
							P% = passing percentage
							DS% = dribble success percentage

Should the Reds sign Siqueira, it would be based on his 2011-12 season—when he overachieved—rather than his recent performances that tell you he isn't Liverpool-caliber. 

After three seasons, Reds management will be trying to offload him, which will be the case with Enrique this time, next year.

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Statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com and Squawka.com