Why Liverpool's Defence Will Be Their Downfall This Season

Six games, eight goals scored, nine goals conceded, one draw, three defeats, seven points. Thus stands Liverpool’s record so far this Premier League season.

Coming off the back of a season in which conceding 50 goals across 38 games saw them lose the title agonizingly to Manchester City by two points, the Reds don’t seem to have addressed their defensive woes adequately enough.

Case in point: Simon Mignolet has only kept two clean sheets in his last 17 games for Liverpool, a not-so-stellar record that has to see blame assigned to his declining levels of performance and confidence, as well as to a hesitant defensive unit ahead of him.

As Brendan Rodgers’ side continues to be exposed through their weaknesses on set pieces—decision-making leading to counterattacks and defensive errors—Liverpool’s defence will be their downfall this season.

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Who are Liverpool’s Best Defenders?

There is a very real problem at the heart of all this: the lack of a truly convincing central defensive partnership. While there is much more to Liverpool’s defensive woes, this will be one of the major contributing factors.

Since the big-money signing of Dejan Lovren, there has been a continuous debate over who Rodgers should play as his first-choice defensive pairing. Should it involve Martin Skrtel, who scored seven goals but conceded four own goals and committed countless defensive errors? Mamadou Sakho, whose sloppiness isn’t easy on the eye and who can’t seem to replicate his form on international level for Liverpool? Or Lovren, who has yet to convince at Anfield and was part of an overall tight defensive setup at Southampton last year?

Should it be Skrtel on the right partnering either one on the left? Or should Lovren convert to a right-sided center-back because he’s right-footed and has played there—albeit in rare occasions—previously in his career?

All of the above combinations have been tested, yet none of them have drawn up convincing arguments to be picked as first choice week in, week out. The continuing lack of communication in the back line, which includes Mignolet’s non-vocal style of goalkeeping, and a language barrier due to their new Spanish full-backs, also can’t help the situation.

Whether it’s down to positioning, defensive ability, communication or organization, it’s clear that Rodgers still has a ways to go before he can fix up a messy defence. At least Javi Manquillo and Alberto Moreno have proven inspired signings thus far.

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There isn’t a 100-Goal Attack to Bail Them out

Besides the long-standing problems at the back, there are also teething issues up front. While Luis Suarez would’ve been suspended if he were still at Anfield anyway, Liverpool fans have seen their attack stutter and stammer this season.

To be sure, Daniel Sturridge’s injury troubles have contributed to the Reds’ goal-scoring problems. Mario Balotelli’s signing has added international class and European pedigree to their strike force, but his style of play still isn’t attuned to Liverpool’s general approach, and he will take some time to settle into his new team.

Without the hard work, graft, vision and sheer game-changing talent that Suarez provided up front, Liverpool have found it much harder to get through opposition defences this season—especially as they take advantage of slack defending at the back to score goals and shut up shop themselves.

While Liverpool fans have surely extinguished any realistic hope of replicating their 101-goal haul in the Premier League this year with Suarez’s departure, they will be hoping fervently that Sturridge’s return will inject some much-needed pace and ingenuity to the attack, and that Balotelli will finally spark into life with a regular strike partner beside or ahead of him.

But as they rack up fewer goals than they managed last year, there won’t be two of the league’s best forwards to bail them out with an unstoppable partnership. A creaking defence will only serve to cost Liverpool more points.

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It’s Also a Midfield Problem

But while the defence needs massive improvement on basic aspects like set-piece defending and positioning, perhaps the key lies in the midfield area, and at present, despite Steven Gerrard’s near-heroics in the Merseyside derby last weekend, the captain has been subject to increasing criticism over his suitability to play in the deepest holding role.

It is a debate that has raged among Liverpool fans since Rodgers converted him to a deep-lying playmaker last season, and one that will not cease until there are suitable options and alternatives tried in the same role to alleviate Gerrard’s defensive responsibilities and duties.

Rodgers hasn’t been helped by injuries to Joe Allen, who impressed in Liverpool’s first few games as arguably their best midfielder, and Emre Can, who caught the eye with his powerful performances during preseason. As such, barring the fast-deteriorating Lucas, Liverpool’s only central-midfield options are Gerrard and Jordan Henderson.

That both Aston Villa and West Ham United decided to man-mark Gerrard with pacy and tactically disciplined players—negating his influence, shutting off a regular source of passes in the midfield—and ended up convincing winners, will have been alarming to both Rodgers and Reds fans.

Liverpool’s opponents would be forgiven for adopting that same blueprint from now on, in addition to focusing on their attacking set plays, to frustrate Rodgers’ side. It’s now up to the manager to devise a plan that will stop his team from conceding soft goals and having points taken off them.

We have yet to see Liverpool in full force this season due to their injuries, but if the goals don’t start flowing up front even when Rodgers has his full squad available and his defence is still leaking goals, then he will have a lot more to answer for.

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