Areas Where Liverpool Are Actually Worse Than Last Season
When Jurgen Klopp accepted the position of Liverpool manager, he was fully aware that this would not be an easy ride on Merseyside.
After steering Borussia Dortmund from Bundesliga also-rans to title winners in his seven seasons at the Westfalenstadion, he was looking for another project; a place with problems and potential in equal measure.
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"It is a hard job, but I knew it would be. If I wanted it the easy way, then I would have stayed a little longer on holiday," he told the Mirror's David Maddock, weeks after his arrival in October.
"I knew about the problems of course, and I know it is not easy to do the right things at Liverpool in this moment, because the expectations are so big."
After a dismal 2014/15 campaign that saw Brendan Rodgers' stock fall to its lowest, Liverpool supporters have wisely tempered their expectations, as the Ulsterman's departure following a 1-1 draw with Everton unmasked the many failures of his reign—of course, Rodgers is a work in progress, and this should be expected.
But, miserably, in many areas, Liverpool are in a worse state than they were in 2014/15, and this should be a cause for concern for Klopp as he begins to build for a brighter future at Anfield.
Defensive Depth
Liverpool spent the summer of 2014 swelling their defensive ranks, adding £20 million centre-back Dejan Lovren and Spanish full-backs Javier Manquillo and Alberto Moreno to a group that also included Glen Johnson, Jose Enrique, Kolo Toure, Mamadou Sakho, Martin Skrtel and Jon Flanagan, with the latter recovering from injury.
This saw Rodgers replace the outgoing Daniel Agger, Jack Robinson and Martin Kelly, leaving the Reds with a bank of nine senior defenders, as well as the likes of Lloyd Jones and Jordan Williams at U21 level.
Emre Can, a £10 million signing from Bayer Leverkusen, offered Rodgers further flexibility, with the German able to cover across the defensive line as well as in midfield.
While Liverpool's defensive effort in 2014/15 can far from be considered a strength, Rodgers' side had depth. If any of the first-choice back four of Johnson, Skrtel, Lovren and Moreno were unavailable due to injury or suspension, each player had a backup.
But with his side conceding 48 goals in 38 Premier League games last season, Rodgers set about another overhaul of his defensive ranks over the summer.
Johnson left the club on the expiry of his contract, Manquillo's loan was terminated, while an ageing Toure was given a new contract along with young right-back Andre Wisdom—who was subsequently loaned to Norwich City.
Enrique, who spent much of the 2014/15 campaign on the periphery, was exiled from first-team training, while Sebastian Coates was sold to Sunderland, as the Ulsterman looked to streamline his squad.
Effectively losing five defensive options in one summer, Liverpool signed only two by way of replacement: Nathaniel Clyne, a £12.5 million acquisition from Southampton, and the versatile Joe Gomez from Charlton Athletic.
But with Gomez suffering a season-ending ACL injury at the beginning of October, Toure struggling with a tight hamstring and Sakho facing two months out of action with a knee problem, Klopp is now suffering the consequences of Rodgers' slack recruitment in defence.
As the German assesses his squad during the international break, he has just four fit defenders in Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren and Moreno, with inexperienced academy talents Connor Randall and Daniel Cleary as backup. There is no depth to Liverpool's defence at this stage—a stark contrast to the previous campaign.
Sakho's absence will be felt most significantly, with Liverpool now lacking an organisational presence; and the dissolve of their set-piece structure without him in November's 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace proved his importance.
Set Pieces
As Scott Dann rose above Roberto Firmino and headed the first of his two attempts on goal in the second half at Anfield, the miserable organisational quality within the Liverpool defence became abundantly clear, while his second, decisive effort hammered it home.
Why was Firmino left to mark Dann, one of the tallest players on the field? Why were Skrtel and Christian Benteke covering the same area, and how did the striker time his jump so poorly? Why was Clyne picking up an area off the back of the crowded penalty area, out of action?
Klopp will likely have felt the frustrations of the Anfield support, who he sympathised with, despite the disappointment he aimed at the swathes of Liverpool fans who left the stadium early.
"After the goal on 82 minutes, with 12 minutes to go, I saw many people leaving the stadium. I felt pretty alone at this moment," he told reporters after the game, as relayed by This is Anfield. "Of course, we decide when it’s over. Between 82 and 94 you can make eight goals if you want, you only have to work for it.
"Big decisions are made in moments when you are tired. Tonight it feels so bad because it was absolutely not necessary."
Liverpool's approach to defending set pieces primarily utilises zonal marking, with Skrtel, Benteke, Lovren, Clyne and Adam Lallana all covering "zones" within the six-yard box, while the likes of Firmino, Lucas Leiva and Philippe Coutinho adopt a man-marking remit, blocking off runs and challenging on the edge of the area.
This approach is fine, but it needs organisation, and without Sakho, this is lacking.
Worryingly, Liverpool face similar problems at the other end of the field, with their inability to capitalise on set-piece situations one of the major issues behind a poor goal return of just 13 in 12 league games this season.
Corners regularly fail to reach beyond the first defender, while crosses from free-kicks follow a similar trajectory—and direct free-kicks are equally as weak.
In 2014/15, the Liverpool squad boasted three set-piece specialists: Steven Gerrard, Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli. But as Rodgers moved into the new campaign with Gerrard having left for LA Galaxy, Lambert sold to West Bromwich Albion and Mario Balotelli loaned to AC Milan, they weren't replaced.
Fortunately, this can be taught, with Coutinho, Moreno and Jordan Henderson the most likely given the quality of their service in open play—moreover, injury to the latter is a contributing factor to Liverpool's poor set pieces to date, with Henderson making just two appearances in the league so far this season.
Leaders
While Gerrard's absence as a set-piece specialist can be compensated for by nurturing the current crop, the loss of his leadership—as former Liverpool captain—cannot.
Gerard Houllier's decision to hand Gerrard the captain's armband, taking over from Sami Hyypia in 2003, was lauded as a masterstroke by the midfielder's former team-mate, Dietmar Hamann, writing for the Guardian prior to his summer departure:
"It brought out the best in Stevie. There was a lot of pressure on him, a local lad captaining his team, but he never hid.
There was no doubt in my mind that he deserved it, because he had already been playing like a captain for two or three years. Sami Hyypia was a good captain. He did a fantastic job and he was a great player for us but Gerard thought it was the time to give it to Stevie and he thrived off it.
The more responsibility you put on him, the better he was.
"
Gerrard dragged Liverpool through the mire on many occasions, with the homegrown talent almost singlehandedly inspiring famous victories over West Ham United in the 2006 FA Cup final and in the Champions League final against Milan in 2005. While his decision to leave the club this summer was sensible, given the drop in quality witnessed in 2014/15, Liverpool will regret losing his leadership.
Furthermore, with Henderson—Gerrard's replacement—missing the majority of the season so far with a host of foot injuries, the failure of a number of senior figures in stepping up into the role is alarming.
Lallana, Skrtel, Lucas and James Milner have all struggled to emphasise their authority in Henderson's absence, and while Sakho proved himself a dominant defensive leader, his current injury further underlines a lack of leaders at Anfield.
Klopp will be hoping to reintroduce a recovering Henderson as quickly as possible after the international break, but the German may be wise to look to the January transfer market to counter this issue.
Valiantly, Klopp has avoided attributing blame for these and other concerns elsewhere, continuing to stress that he "knew about the problems" before he took the job as Liverpool manager, and though in many ways the Reds are in a worse position than last season in terms of structure and personnel, he will be buoyed that these issues are corrigible.
Fortunately, Liverpool now possess a manager capable of identifying these issues and rectifying them quickly and efficiently—and Merseyside can hope for a more positive dawn with Klopp at the helm.
Statistics via WhoScored.com.
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