Defensive cohesion is key to title success, so what are LFC missing & what is needed to get the Red back four clicking together?
It was painfully obvious on Monday night that something isn't right with the Liverpool FC back four, City exploited what ever it is that's causing the problems and to devastating affect - certainly a night to forget. Money has been pumped into fixing a leaky defence over the last three transfer windows and the problems remain, how do you fix a faltering back line?
Liverpool lined up with two relative newbies in their defence against Manchester City, Dejan Lovren & debutant Alberto Moreno. Despite the two being in the fledgling stages of their Liverpool careers, both are quite clearly what can be called 'modern defenders'. Both defenders look to push up and out of their defensive zones and thus hold a high line; the exact opposite of the other half of the LFC back line. Glen Johnson & Martin Skrtel, the remaining starters from the back four of Rafa Benitez, play in a reactionary style that is in direct conflict of their left hand sided colleagues. Lovren & Moreno trying to push high with Skrtel & Johnson naturally dropping deep is a recipe for disaster as it creates space and counter acts any potential offside traps - harmony and cohesion is fundamental to a successful back four, having two sets of philosophically opposed defenders could cause serious issues. Does this mean that the answer is a rejuvenated right hand side?
Well, the answer to that question seems multi faceted - yes & no. With Manquillo waiting in the wings and Ilori hopefully no more than a season away from being ready, the Reds aren't far away from having a back four who all, on paper, fit the Rodgers style; so in a word, yes, a right hand shake up would benefit the Reds but there's much more to it than that, are the left side good enough? Alberto Moreno showed very positive signs for a young Spaniard on debut & while he has a lot to learn, the young Spaniard has all the tools to be a top left back. This leads us to the contentious topic of Dejan Lovren. Bought to the club to be the leader of the back four, Lovren has showed moments of exactly why he was targeted by the club - vocal and dominant against Dortmund and in the first half - Southampton, Lovren's performance level dropped significantly in the second half against Southampton & City as he failed to pull the line high and riskily stepped out on numerous occasions. It is of course early days for Lovren and he certainly seems the vocal presence the club need, but mistakes have been made - the back four as whole needs time to settle, Lovren is no different.
Perhaps, however, the issue of a the number of goals LFC concede spreads further a field than simply the back four. Steven Gerrard has recently adopted the regista role and with great affect on the ball, but the current midfield set-up isn't providing cover for the ageing legs of the skip. Henderson is a strong runner and is evolving into a strong component of LFC's offensive build up but his defensive contribution so far this season has been poor. If Rodgers wishes to continue using a regista as opposed to a natural defensive midfielder, then the box-box midfielder will have to compensate to avoid being cut through by the runners of the best midfields in Europe in this term's Champions League. Emre Can could indeed be this man but he is young and raw, so unless a more traditional defensive midfielder is bought in soon, the midfield will also need time.
It's impossible to pin point the exact cause of the Red's defensive frailties, it's likely the combination of multiple factors. Perspective is however needed, with new faces coming in, solidity was never going to be instantaneous.
Time is very much of the essence for the Liverpool reguard.