Jamie Carragher believes that Jurgen Klopp still needs to strenghten his Liverpool team before the end of the transfer window. He was there to watch the game at Turf Moor as Burnley, back to the Premier League after a spell in the Championship, beat Liverpool 2-0 on the day.
Liverpool dominated the match in case of numbers and had a total possession of 81% and had an astounding 26 attempts on goal but none made it past the Burnley goalkeeper as the match got out of the Reds' hands after they conceded the second.
Defence is still a huge problem
After the game, Carragher spoke to Sky Sports and was anything but appreciative of the Liverpool defence.
Carragher said that the back line is a "big problem," he spoke about how it was a problem under former manager Brendan Rodgers and it "doesn't look like it has been rectified."
The Reds have added to the team in defence with the signings of Ragnar Klavan, Joel Matip and Loris Karius but still look inconsistent as Klopp still looks for the team to be solid defensively.
Carragher acknowledged the fact that Klopp has had a whole summer to improve and seemed put off by the fact that the "big signings" have been "on the other end of the pitch."
He added by saying that the team is still "lacking defensively" and even in "the holding midfield position."
Liverpool do look indeed look as though they lack in depth in the holding midfield role. Emre Can is the only pure holding midfielder that the squad possesses and it is surprising to see that Klopp hasn't added to the midfield in that area specifically with the sale of Joe Allen and also Lucas Leiva looking like he might leave soon.
Carragher spoke about Jordan Henderson and said that he is "not a defensive midfielder" and how Can is the "only one who can play there" with Lucas looking "surplus to requirements."
The left-back position has been the centre of the criticism surrounding Liverpool's defence, with Alberto Moreno not looking to get any better with his defensive duties as Klopp continues to defend the Spaniard.
Carragher admitted that the left-back position is a concern for Liverpool, and said that they are "still short" in depth at that position, with James Milner filling in at left-back in place of Moreno at Burnley.
It will be interesting to see if Liverpool intend to spend the money they acquired by the sale of Christian Benteke and Carragher says that any signing by Klopp before August 31st, "remains to be seen."
Murphy's judgement
Carragher's opinion of the game was seconded by former Liverpool midfielder, Danny Murphy, who gave his views about the game on Match Of The Day.
"There were issues," said Murphy, "and at the start of the game, real issues."
He noted that Klopp is making Liverpool "play out from the back" and said that "it is not a problem and can be a good way to play," but he was unsure if the Reds are good enough to keep such a style going, and said that the players need to "mix it up."
Murphy spoke about how the Burnley squad must have watched the Arsenal game and thought to themselves, "tell you what, we’ll go and have a press as well", this approach was very effective and the plan for them was that whenever they've got their energy, they will "get on the front foot."
Murphy criticised Liverpool's defending after they conceded a goal after two minutes, "talk about creating problems for yourself" said the former Liverpool midfielder, and said that Liverpool "did not learn their lesson."
He also spoke about how Liverpool repeated their mistakes in the game against Arsenal and "gave Burnley confidence."
These mistakes led to Liverpool having "a mountain to climb" during the whole game and Murphy added by saying that "You can’t concede two goals in the first half and expect to get back into the game."
Making own decisions
Murphy was critical of the players' decision-making in the game and said that "For the life of me, I can’t understand why players can’t make their own decisions sometimes". It's true, the Liverpool players gave away the ball on a few occasions and were careless at times in possession against Burnley, and Murphy seconded the same, by saying that "You can’t win matches like that."
Liverpool will need to learn how to defend efficiently if they want their talented forwards to play fearlessly, such careless defending could cost them valuable points during the most crucial periods of their season and Klopp should look to add more solidity to the team, either by changing his tactics or bringing in somebody new.