Will Liverpool's Defence Be Strong Enough to Mount a Top-4 Push?
Liverpool are two wins from two and can count two clean sheets on their record for the 2015/16 Premier League season, but can Brendan Rodgers satisfy the club's perennial top-four aspirations with his current defence?
That is the objective, according to omnipresent media darling Adam Lallana, with the Reds midfielder telling Sky Sports ahead of Monday night's 1-0 win at home to AFC Bournemouth that "the aim for all of us this year is to win a trophy and try to get back in the top four."
He continued:
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"I feel we've got the starting foundation of that with a good squad and good competition for places. We’d love to get back in the top four.
We had a taste of it last year and unfortunately we got knocked out in the group stages, so we want to be back in there.
We feel we’ve got a good squad to compete.
"
Rodgers has strengthened major deficiencies in his squad this summer but, despite the additions of Nathaniel Clyne and Joe Gomez, the manager may have fatally neglected the flaws in his defence.
Is Liverpool's back line strong enough to mount a top-four finish this season?
The Case for the Defence
As Rodgers attested following Liverpool's latest Anfield victory, the fundamental evidence suggests that his back four are capable of producing steadfast performances, as relayed by the club's official website.
"I'm pleased we’ve got two wins, six points and two clean sheets," he said. "Defensive organisation has been good and that’s important for us."
This is something that Clyne agreed with, telling LFCTV that "we have to improve on our defensive qualities and we showed today that we can be solid in defence," continuing: "If we can get a clean sheet there's always the possibility of picking up maximum points like we did today so long the may the clean sheets continue!"
But is the England international right-back right to be confident that the Reds can continue to shine at the back?
His own performances will be the main contributor, with the 24-year-old a significant upgrade on Liverpool's former first-choice right-back, Glen Johnson, as Henry Jackson of This is Anfield suggested following Monday's win over Bournemouth:
"While Johnson’s time in a Liverpool shirt proved to be one of huge frustration, with a lack of defensive quality and a questionable hunger working against him, Clyne genuinely looks the real deal.
Defensively he is superb, as shown by his ability to keep Ibrahim Afellay and Max Gradel almost non-existent against Stoke and Bournemouth, respectively.
He bites into tackles, has blistering pace at his disposal and possesses terrific positional sense. How has Roy Hodgson been picking Phil Jones at right-back for England instead?
"
Clyne has arguably produced two man-of-the-match performances in Liverpool's first two games of the season, with his four-tackle, three-interception display up against the Cherries' Max Gradel on Monday significant testimony of his defensive prowess.
One particular challenge on the Ivorian in the first half—brutal but fair in its execution—ensured Clyne a quieter night on the right defensive flank, with Gradel seemingly daunted by the physicality of his marker.
At left-back, 18-year-old former Charlton Athletic defender Gomez has contributed two performances of genuine maturity so far this season.
More likely to read the game and recover than the front-footed Clyne, Gomez made two interceptions and blocked two shots on goal against Bournemouth, with the otherwise impressive Matt Ritchie tested to his attacking capacity against the England Under-19 international.
Clyne and Gomez have so far sandwiched the central-defensive pairing of Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren this season, and while the eastern European duo have played their part in the Reds' 100 percent clean-sheet record, their inclusion raises one of many questions surrounding Rodgers' favoured defence.
Is Liverpool's Defence Strong Enough?
It was with great surprise that Lovren produced an exemplary performance in Liverpool's season opener, a 1-0 win away to Stoke City, given the Croatian's overall poor form throughout the previous season.
At the Britannia Stadium—barring an arguable red-card offence for an elbow to the jaw of Mame Biram Diouf—Lovren was defensively superb. He won six aerial duels and made 12 clearances in a no-nonsense display at the heart of Rodgers' defence, with only centre-forward Christian Benteke more successful in the air and no other player more forthright in clearing his lines.
But on Monday night Lovren slipped into the sub-six-out-of-10 centre-back that Liverpool supporters have tolerated over the past year. Up against the pace and movement of Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson, Lovren struggled—it wasn't a performance of the 2014/15 vintage, but the 26-year-old was far from assuring.
Is Lovren a truly capable partner for Skrtel, who himself is not at the top level of the league's central defenders, despite Rodgers' loyalty?
The manager's praising of "two wins, six points and two clean sheets" rather miserably glosses over some major deficiencies in his side on paper.
Liverpool are very much a side in flux, and the hit-and-miss displays of Lovren represent just one of many potential issues.
If Clyne suffers injury at any point in this campaign, do Liverpool possess a backup capable of adequately filling in? With Andre Wisdom spending the season on loan with Norwich City, Javier Manquillo's two-season loan cancelled and Johnson joining Stoke this summer, this would leave only Gomez and Jon Flanagan as deputies for this role.
On the same token, if Gomez's early form dips due to inexperience and being fielded out of position—as a natural centre-back—could Rodgers compensate for this? Again Flanagan may offer a solution, but his long-term injury problems present a major pitfall there, while the peripheral role of 23-year-old Spaniard Alberto Moreno offers little hope for his chances on the left defensive flank under Rodgers.
At centre-back, Rodgers' ranks are fleshed out by the veteran Kolo Toure, a wholly untested Tiago Ilori and French international Mamadou Sakho, and the current situation of the latter injects worry into the Lovren conundrum.
Sakho has been linked with a move away from Anfield this summer, with Sky Sports reporting unsuccessful bids from both AS Roma and Bayer Leverkusen as the transfer window nears its end. If the 25-year-old decides to leave Merseyside, Rodgers' defensive depth will be thin—in short, he would have no cover for Lovren, if the former Southampton centre-back's form suffers this term.
So while Liverpool are currently one of only three sides in this season's Premier League to have not conceded a goal, there are many unanswered questions as to the longevity of this success at this juncture.
Is Rodgers' back line in good-enough shape to reinforce a top-four tilt?
The Premier League's Top Four
Again, on paper, the regular defences of the rest of the Premier League's 2015/16 top-four hopefuls are significantly stronger than that which Rodgers has at his disposal.
Early leaders Manchester City similarly possess two in-form full-backs in Aleksandar Kolarov and Bacary Sagna (with Gael Clichy and Pablo Zabaleta waiting in the wings). A seemingly rejuvenated Vincent Kompany could be joined by either Eliaquim Mangala or Sky Sports-reported target Nicolas Otamendi at centre-back.
Manchester United's defensive situation may be similar to that of Liverpool's, but the form of Matteo Darmian, Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw should be encouraging for Louis van Gaal, while Daley Blind has turned in two superlative performances at centre-back so far.
Arsenal's back four of Hector Bellerin, Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker and Nacho Monreal is settled and fully functional, with January signing Gabriel Paulista poised to usurp Mertesacker if the German struggles.
Finally, Chelsea's speculated defensive problems this season—largely owing to John Terry's half-time substitution in the Blues' 3-0 loss to City—are wide off the mark. The signing of Baba Rahman, the likely subsequent shifting to right-back of Cesar Azpilicueta and the potential arrival of John Stones are pointing to a bright future at the back for Jose Mourinho.
Each regular top-four contender at this point looks in solid shape in defence, with less unanswered questions than that of Rodgers' side.
At this point, the Ulsterman arguably needs to add another right-sided centre-back and cover for both full-back roles—as well as needing to convince Sakho his future lies on Merseyside—before he can consider his back line formidable enough to mount a top-four challenge.
Liverpool's back-to-back clean sheets flatter to deceive—this is a side with major defensive issues brewing.
If they are not addressed, Rodgers' hope that "defensive organisation" will be enough will likely be shattered.
Statistics via WhoScored.com.
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