Liverpool's failure to bring home the title in 2014 wasn't only blamed on Steven Gerrard's slip, the defence took their fare share of criticism too. They conceded 50 goals in 38 games, the highest total out of the top five teams in the league.
Three defenders were brought into the club this summer; Dejan Lovren, Alberto Moreno and Javier Manquillo. Lovren was the hallmark of this, as he moved from Southampton in a transfer designed for the Croatian to become Liverpool's organiser in defence, a leading centre-back.
From the looks of things, Liverpool's defence has improved this season. They've conceded just 42 goals in 37 games, meaning, bar a humiliation at Stoke City on Sunday, there'll be an improvement on last season's figure. But how has each Reds defender done individually? Let's take a look.
Simon Mignolet
Football is a game of two halves and Simon Mignolet's certainly had a season of two halves. Indescribably bad post-Christmas, Mignolet cost Liverpool games through silly mistakes. Dropped for Brad Jones against Manchester United after more mistakes, Rodgers said he was out of the team ''indefinitely'', but the Belgian found himself called upon just three games later as Jones went off injured against Burnley. He grasped his second chance, and has gone from strength to strength since, appearing as one of Liverpool's best players in the second half of the season. His commanding of the area, kicking and reflexes have all improved, and he goes into Sunday's game with a chance of winning the Golden Glove. More of the same next season please Simon, just cut out the errors. 7.
Brad Jones
Ah, poor Brad Jones. Such a loyal servant to the club, and such a patient one also. He's had few chances during his five years at Liverpool, but it looked like he was going to get a run in the first-team when called into action against United. He was poor in that game, but kept his place before getting injured. Mignolet's good form meant that he couldn't regain a place in the team, and we may have seen the last of Jones as he looks set to leave this summer. 4.
Javier Manquillo
Moving into the outfielders, and it's Javi Manquillo. Remember him? Well, we're not sure Brendan Rodgers does. Having not played since February, Manquillo has been on the periphery for most of the season, but did confirm this week that he intends to remain on L4 for the second year of his two term loan. He's made just 15 appearances, but didn't do anything particularly wrong in any of them. Something that goes against Manquillo is his lack of attacking ability, he has contributed no goals or assists this season, but hopefully we will see the Spaniard play a more involved role next year. 5.
Glen Johnson
The full-back has had a campaign largely restricted by injury, but has still managed to put in 28 appearances for the Reds, in what will most likely be his last season at the club. Fans love to hate him, but in fairness to Johnson he hasn't been that bad this season. Granted, he's not the marauding wing-back that Liverpool paid £20million for all those years ago, but he's put everything into this season and will probably look back at his winning goal against Stoke as it's best moment. 6.
Martin Skrtel
The first of the centre-backs, it's fair to say that Skrtel's defending has seemingly improved this year. One of the most experienced in the team, the Slovakian has been a key figure this year, making 39 appearances. His goal-scoring reputation forged last season has diminished, as he's headed in just one this campaign, and he still needs to work on his positioning when going one on one with an attacker. However, on the whole, Skrtel has had an okay season, looking much better in a three-man defence than a four, but will be striving for better next year. 6.
Kolo (Kolo Kolo, Kolo Kolo, Kolo Kolo) Touré!
Ahem, pardon me. Back to topic. Everyone's favourite defender hasn't been used so often this season, making just ten starts in all competitions, but who can forget his mesmeric performance away at Real Madrid? Granted, Liverpool lost 1-0, but Touré almost single-handedly kept, what at the time was, Europe's most potent strike-force at bay for most of the night. For that alone, he deserves a medal, and if rumours of him signing a new contract at Liverpool are true, I can't see any fan being disappointed. 5.
Mamadou Sakho: Liverpool's star defender
After an inconsistent first season on Anfield, there were hopes that Sakho would be given the chance to show his quality from the start of this season. This didn't happen, and when he stormed out of Anfield after not being selected in the squad for September's Merseyside Derby, it looked like the former Paris Saint-Germain captain's days on L4 were numbered. However, when Dejan Lovren was injured, Sakho stepped into the team with assurance and confidence.
Further injuries restricted him to just 17 appearances this term, but he made few mistakes in any of those. The way to view Sakho's growing importance to Liverpool is through these eyes. Sakho didn't play pre-December, Liverpool were dreadful. Sakho played from Christmas to March, Liverpool were superb. Sakho was injured through April and May, where Liverpool were once again awful. Hopefully the Frenchman can get his injury problems cured for next season, when he should be one of the first names on the team-sheet from the beginning. 8.
Dejan Lovren:
To be frank, the less said about Dejan Lovren's first season at Liverpool the better. Rubber-stamped as the man to 'save Liverpool's defence' and 'lead the team' into this new season has flattered to decieve. Much like Manquillo, he looked good in the pre-season annihilation of Borussia Dortmund, but Lovren went on to become the definition of a flop. From various defensive errors both home and away, to the missed penalty against Besiktas, and 'THAT' shot against Aston Villa, it's been a disaster. Granted, he's put in some better showings in the second half of the season, but you would be surprised to see Lovren in more than a bit-part role next season. 3.
Alberto Moreno
Moreno is an interesing one, signed from Europa League winners Sevilla on the eve of their Super Cup tie against Real Madrid, he was a signing that many fans were optimistic about. And rightly so, he was, and still is, an exciting young left-back that could stay in that position for five or six years. Who can forget his first goal? Dispossessing Andros Townsend, Moreno ran the length of the White Hart Lane pitch, before slotting cooly past Hugo Lloris.
He hasn't quite reached those heights since then, with notable mistakes against the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal leading to certain people questioning his ability. I'm of a different opinion, one that suggests Moreno has actually looked like a very good left-back this season. For every bad game, he seems to have a good one, and he could do better next season when played in a consistently picked defence. He's looked better alongside the likes of Sakho this season than, er, other centre-backs (Yes Lovren, I'm looking at you). 6.
(Jose Enrique and Jon Flanagan weren't included in this piece due to injury problems keeping them out of first team action. Look out for Emre Can's rating in the midfielder's section!)