Liverpool Defensive Problems Continue for Brendan Rodgers in Defeat to West Ham

Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool side continued their shambolic defensive form this season with a 3-1 away defeat at the hands of Sam Allardyce and West Ham United.

Goals from Winston Reid, Diafra Sakho and Morgan Amalfitano were enough to dispatch a hapless Reds outfit, with a well-taken strike from Raheem Sterling the only positive on a dismal Saturday night.

Rodgers’ side struggled to impose their attacking identity from the start and looked out of sorts for large proportions of the tie.

One hallmark of this Liverpool side that endured, however, was an appalling defensive display.

Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren started for the Reds, while Mamadou Sakho was brought on to complete a back three on 22 minutes with the side already trailing 2-0.

With three supposedly dominant centre-backs on the field, Liverpool still struggled to quell the West Ham tide, and a series of individual and collective errors marred the Reds’ momentum once more.

Now five games in to the new Premier League season, this is seemingly a problem that will continue for Liverpool for the foreseeable future.

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Dejan Lovren

Signed for £20 million from Southampton this summer, Croatian defender Lovren was celebrated as the leader that Liverpool have been yearning for since the retirement of Jamie Carragher.

The Reds icon even said so himself, telling the Liverpool Echo, “He looks like an organiser and he looks like a leader.”

Carragher continued that Lovren would need to muster “the same form he has at Southampton for Liverpool.”

However, so far the 25-year-old has looked anything like the organisational phenom he was considered, and a solitary season on the south coast with the Saints is looking like a mere one-off.

Against West Ham, Lovren was knocked from pillar to post by a rough Allardyce outfit, and the defender’s physicality seemed shaken by this, a factor only bested by a lack of positional sense.

In midweek, Lovren lamented the language barrier between him and his fellow defenders.

However, between the Croat and the Frenchman, the Reds' defensive solidity has looked a foreign concept.

Mamadou Sakho

Former PSG man Sakho is often criticised for looking uncomfortable in possession—an unfounded issue—but on individual ability is the best centre-back within this Liverpool squad.

The 24-year-old seems unfavoured by Rodgers, however, making way for the returning Skrtel at the first opportunity.

Nevertheless, this did provide the Ulsterman with a strong defensive option on the bench, and Sakho was introduced after 20 minutes with the Reds struggling against the physical prowess of West Ham—right-back Javier Manquillo made way.

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Per WhoScored.com, the substitute won four aerial duels against the Hammers, with only Lovren winning more, and this did underline Rodgers’ decision to bring on Sakho, with Allardyce’s side focussing on high crosses into the box.

But it is commonly perceived that Sakho has at least one big mistake in him per game, and his unorthodox headed clearance in the build-up to Amalfitano’s game-clincher went some length to proving this.

A dour performance by the Frenchman, perhaps his worst in a Reds shirt.

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Martin Skrtel

An immense defensive prospect last season for Liverpool, Slovakian centre-back Skrtel looked to have resurrected a flagging career under Rodgers in 2013-14.

Skrtel is now a mainstay in Rodgers’ defence, and there was no surprise that he was brought back into the fold against West Ham.

The 29-year-old was perhaps the Reds’ best centre-back against the Hammers, but this is in no way a positive.

Skrtel’s main defensive approach is as a last-ditch, highlight-reel-style stopper, and it is a tactical intelligence that is lacking, and this is a big issue for Rodgers.

For West Ham’s opening goal, Skrtel seems to be marking a zone as opposed to a man, with Jordan Henderson left to deal with the hulking James Tomkins—suffice to say the Hammers defender won the header.

Rodgers clearly has lofty expectations for Skrtel, but there is much work to be done still to realise these.

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Solutions

Reintroducing Skrtel following his injury once more contributed to an instability in the Reds’ defence, and not having a settled and cemented back four is clearly damaging the side.

This consistency, however, is impossible to attain given how consistently fallible each of Rodgers’ top three centre-back options have been.

In his pre-match interview with Sky Sports, the Liverpool manager defended his decision to replace Sakho with Skrtel.

It is clear that Rodgers believes Skrtel and Lovren are his long-term defensive pairing, although how sensible this is remains to be seen—the pair have only started together three times in the Premier League.

Sakho is perhaps the most suitable within Rodgers’ finesse-based system, but question marks linger over his confidence at the back.

Whilst there will be calls for January reinforcements, tightened defensive coaching and possibly even desperate cries for Kolo Toure, the most sensible solution to this problem is fostering a consistency within the back four, and this is purely Rodgers’ responsibility.

At this juncture, the only solution for Liverpool’s defensive problems is patience, and a good sofa to hide behind.

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