Liverpool's Pre-Season Defeat to Roma Proves Need to Sign Defensive Midfielder
Liverpool rounded off their pre-season tour of the United States with a 2-1 defeat to AS Roma at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, in a contest that likely raised more questions than it did provide answers as Jurgen Klopp prepares for the 2016/17 campaign.
Goals from Edin Dzeko and the ghost of the Reds' transfer windows past, Mohamed Salah, either side of a header from teenager Sheyi Ojo, sealed the victory for Luciano Spalletti's outfit, sending Liverpool back to Merseyside having suffered two losses from their three clashes across the Atlantic.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Klopp took a number of positives but stressed that he would prefer to uncover his side's flaws during the summer, rather than midway through the Premier League season:
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"Tonight it was easy to see what’s wrong; that’s good because it’s easier to change it. We did really well in this pre-season camp—we had a lot of perfect sessions and really good moments in our games.
Tonight there were a few offensive situations we played really well and were unlucky or a good goalkeeper or whatever. We didn’t score often enough but I’m happy nobody is injured after this game.
It was really difficult for my team to play tonight after this intense time.
Now we have finished, hopefully a safe trip, go home to England and build on the base we made here.
"
Without first-team fixtures Loris Karius, Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, Mamadou Sakho, Lucas Leiva, Marko Grujic and Divock Origi on the night, Klopp's squad was far from full strength, but their performance still presented a warning sign to the German.
In particular, the way in which Roma dominated the midfield battle—in both halves, despite Klopp making considerable changes at the interval—should serve as a red flag to the Liverpool manager.
As has been the case on a number of occasions in the past, this was a performance that underlined the Reds' need to sign a defensive midfielder.
Wijnaldum and Can
Klopp named a strong starting lineup despite the injuries pervading his squad, with Alex Manninger, Emre Can and Sheyi Ojo all making their first starts of pre-season.
Manninger took up his place between the sticks, marking his debut for the Reds after joining on a free transfer in July, with the veteran Austrian marshalling a back line of Nathaniel Clyne, Dejan Lovren, Ragnar Klavan and James Milner—Klopp's new deputy left-back.
At the other end of the field, Daniel Sturridge was supported by Ojo, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane in a fluid, free-flowing attacking line.
While this forward quartet produced a number of fine moves in the first half—most notably in a move involving all three that saw Sturridge's chip just stopped by the flailing Alisson—the Reds were less impressive in defence.
Spalletti fielded a powerful three-man midfield unit of Kevin Strootman, Radja Nainggolan and Leandro Paredes, with the 57-year-old flooding the middle of the park with strong, aggressive players, and this is where Liverpool's positive work unravelled.
Opting for a 4-2-3-1 formation, Klopp utilised Can and summer signing Georginio Wijnaldum in his double pivot in midfield, another lineup that promised a heavy focus on attacking movement and defending from the front.
But with both Can and Wijnaldum having a tendency to drive into the attacking third with surging, box-to-box runs—and rightly so, as both are at their best pushing forward into the opposition's half—Roma found considerable space to probe.
This was similarly apparent in the second half, with Klopp first replacing Can with Jordan Henderson and later Wijnaldum with Cameron Brannagan—his midfield presented a flimsy challenge to Strootman, Nainggolan and Paredes.
Liverpool's Defence
Though Klopp's defensive line has been stripped with injuries this summer, the understanding shown between Lovren and Klavan against both Chelsea and AC Milan in their International Champions Cup outings this summer suggested the Reds may be able to cope without Sakho and Matip.
But presented with an experienced, physical centre-forward in Dzeko, supported by the speedy Salah and Stephan El Shaarawy and the overlapping Nainggolan and Strootman, the centre-back pairing struggled.
Though Klavan continued to showcase his composure and perception in his left-sided role, Lovren failed to contend with the wily Dzeko, and it was the Croatian's lack of aggression up against the former Manchester City striker that led to Roma's opening goal.
Latching on to a long ball, Dzeko held Lovren off with ease before sending a powerful, low effort beyond Manninger to put Roma ahead.
It was an excellent strike from the 30-year-old, but the ease with which Dzeko was able to find the space to shoot from 20 yards out was magnified by the absence of a midfield presence—and this lack of support from Can and Wijnaldum served to expose Klopp's centre-backs.
Conversely, the Reds required the dynamism of Mane, Sturridge, Firmino and Ojo to craft openings in the final third, largely due to the diligent Paredes prowling ahead of his back four, hoovering up loose balls and charging into tackles in the middle third.
Speaking after the game, Klopp was clearly frustrated with his side's poor defensive showing in the opening 45, saying: "We weren’t compact in the first half and had too big spaces between the positions, so nearly every offensive action of Roma was a chance. It makes no sense."
But this unfortunately continued after the interval, with the German introducing Henderson in place of Can, and later Brannagan for Wijnaldum, with this same unbalanced structure aiding the buildup to Salah's winner.
Largely, these issues would have been negated had Klopp been able to call upon a specialist defensive midfielder.
Defensive-Midfield Options
Klopp's current options in the holding role are slim, with Lucas and Kevin Stewart the only midfielders naturally focused on winning the ball and feeding Liverpool's more technically gifted talents.
Lucas has been linked with a move to Galatasaray this summer, as reported by the Daily Mail's Dominic King, while Stewart's 11 appearances for the Reds in 2015/16 underline his peripheral role under Klopp; the 22-year-old former Tottenham Hotspur youth is a covering option, and no more.
Meanwhile, Klopp has utilised Can and Henderson in the deeper role in midfield this summer, but neither has showcased the defensive nous required to operate with a more refined, defensive outlook.
Speaking to ESPN FC's Gabriele Marcotti during Liverpool's time in the U.S., Klopp said he would only dip further into the transfer market when it was clear how his players would "react on [his] decisions," and it could be that his move to field the likes of Can, Henderson and Wijnaldum in these balanced midfield duties—and their muted displays as a result—forces him to react and move to sign a specialist in the holding role.
If this is the case, the former Borussia Dortmund manager has a number of options he could assess in the current market.
A prime example would come in Aston Villa's Idrissa Gueye, who has been subject of a £7.1 million bid from Liverpool's city rivals Everton, as reported by the Press Association (h/t the Guardian), activating the midfielder's release clause. If the Reds moved to hijack this deal, they would be acquiring an accomplished option.
Paredes himself was linked with a move to Merseyside earlier in this year, with Metro.co.uk's Tom Olver relaying reports from Italian outlet Calciomercato.com that Klopp had "launched a £4.7 million bid" for the 21-year-old; though he is likely to be valued at higher than that, Paredes proved his worth in St. Louis.
Malaga's Ignacio Camacho and Lyon's Maxime Gonalons would also provide solutions, which proved to be so crucial during Leicester City's Premier League title run in 2015/16, with N'Golo Kante playing a key role.
Liverpool's 2-1 defeat to Roma should prove an illuminating experience for Klopp as he heads into his first full campaign at Anfield, and most importantly, this should be in highlighting a major problem position.
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