Liverpool Have Once Again Failed to Address Their Biggest Weakness This Summer

Only two games have been played of the new Premier League season, but a common theme has already become apparent: deception. Chelsea, for instance, are still one of the title favourites, yet have taken just a single point from their opening two fixtures. Meanwhile, Leicester City, heavily tipped relegation candidates, have accrued six points from a possible six.

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And at Manchester United too, Louis Van Gaal’s players have kept two successive clean sheets, despite pressing questions over the resolution of their defence. The same goes for Liverpool, who have yet to concede a Premier League goal this season. Their back line is quite clearly the glaring weakness of Brendan Rodgers’ side, although that has certainly not been apparent over the early part of the campaign. 

Indeed, against both Stoke City and Bournemouth the Reds have looked defensively solid, recording back-to-back 1-0 victories to take them level with Manchester City, Manchester United and Leicester City at the top of the Premier League. Liverpool were expected to be better this season, but not in this manner.

However, while Rodgers’ has focussed his summer transfer-market efforts on two key objectives—replacing Luis Suarez in attack and Steven Gerrard in midfield—he has thus far ignored his squad’s biggest deficiency: defence. Nathaniel Clyne was signed from Southampton, but as an inherently attacking full-back his influence in shoring up Liverpool’s often-shoddy back line will be minimal. Other than that though, there have been no further additions.

“Defensive organisation has been good and that’s important for us,” Rodgers explained after the win over Bournemouth on Monday night. “There are a lot of new players that have come into the club and it will take them a little bit of time to bed in. 

“What we’re seeing is a character and spirit in the team and that’s going to be important for us. We know the qualities we have and we know as players find fitness at this stage of the season and get more game time, our game will become better.”

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On the basis of their opening two performances this season, the Liverpool boss is entitled to puff out his chest over the display of his back four—particularly when so many had pinpointed that area of his team as such a weakness. But is Rodgers’ faith in his centre-back pairing of Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren misplaced in the long-term?

The latter in particular endured an especially shaky debut season with Liverpool last term, with some even suggesting that the club could offload him after less than a year. So it is somewhat remarkable that Rodgers has so far allowed the transfer window to pass by without addressing that deficiency. 

It’s true that Liverpool have made progress over the summer, strengthening areas that did indeed require strengthening. The Anfield club have missed out on top targets in recent years. While Joe Strange of the Daily Mail reported they were in for Memphis Depay, who eventually joined Manchester United, they have sealed deals for the players they set out to sign at the start of the transfer window. 

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The signing of both Roberto Firmino and Christian Benteke made a statement of just how driven Liverpool are to qualify for next season’s Champions League, with the capture of James Milner on a free transfer from Manchester City also reflective of the club’s direction. Strides have been made where they perhaps weren’t last summer.

So how does Rodgers ensure that the defensive issues that dogged his side last season don’t become a recurrent problem again this term? Or were the Reds’ deficiencies at the back exaggerated in the first instance? Rodgers might argue so.

What is somewhat surprising is that for all their perceived defensive frailty last season, WhoScored reported Liverpool conceded an average of just 10.9 shots on goal per game last term—ranking them on par with champions (and supposed defensive exemplar) Chelsea. 

However, the Reds weren’t quite as proactive in stopping opposition attacks as the majority of their rivals, averaging just 11.6 interceptions per game, according to WhoScored—the second-lowest average of any side in the Premier League last season. Such a statistic is indicative of Liverpool’s defensive rigidity, with neither Skrtel nor Lovren too comfortable with bringing the ball out of the back line and into midfield.

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“In terms of a defensive coach, we don’t need it. No. No. No chance. No chance. No,” Rodgers insisted when asked whether he could use some backroom help last season, as per Chris Bascombe of the Telegraph. “We were labelled this before. Were we soft? Were we too nice? I think over a period of time we proved that we weren’t. I think what we have this year is more games to carry, which takes a slight intensity out of the legs. This is a whole learning experience for many players."

And so it is therefore unsurprising that Rodgers has remained so stubborn in defensive terms over the summer. He has faith in his back line, even if he perhaps shouldn’t. The Northern Irishman would perhaps argue that such confidence is justified by the performance of his players over Liverpool’s opening two Premier League games, but can the Reds’ back four feasibly keep that up over the course of the entire campaign?

Of course, there is still time for Rodgers to make one last move this summer and if indeed he does have a last-gasp target lined up, it must be a defender. Liverpool might not have the funds to compete with the likes of Manchester City for the signing of Nicolas Otamendi, but there are still a number of options that could provide the solution to their defensive inadequacy (Athletic Bilbao’s Aymeric Laporte, for one).

Just like last summer, Liverpool have spent upwards of £75 million on a whole host of new players, although they certainly have more to show for their money this time around. And yet they have somehow still managed to overlook their more glaring, undermining flaw.