Liverpool's defence could still be their achilles heel this season

Chidozie Ehirim

Editor

With the Summer transfer window now closed, all teams will now have to make do with the personnel they have until January at least.

Liverpool's squad has been strengthened with the additions of left back Andrew Robertson, striker Dominic Solanke, winger Mohammed Salah and the latest acquisition Alex Oxlade Chamberlain from Arsenal.

  

Jurgen Klopp

In addition, the Merseysiders have also secured the services of highly sought after midfielder Naby Keita although he will only join the club next season. With the club seeking to progress further than they did in their last campaign, the recent acquisitions will be vital.

The Reds have made a bright start to the season, winning two and drawing one of their first three fixtures. They currently sit second in the Premier League behind Manchester United and following their devastating 4-0 win over Arsenal last Sunday, confidence is very high.

Liverpool success last season was due in large part to their high pressing. It was highly effective and will be a key aspect of their push for glory this season. 

However, it is in central defence where some observers have concerns. Liverpool chose not to acquire another center back after their initial failiure to land talented defender Victor Van Dijk from Southampton. 

Academy talents, full back Trent Alexander Arnold and Joe Gomez, who can play both as a center back and full back, have been promoted to the first team squad. However, the central defensive core is still light in terms of established players.

Joel Matip (left) and Dejan Lovren

Dejan Lovren, Joel Matip and Ragnar Klavan remain as the first choice central defenders and are not shabby players by any means. However the addition of quality personnel like Virgil Van Dijk would have solidified that area.

Liverpool have kept a clean sheet in 7 of their last 9 games which is nothing to be scoffed at. However, extra reinforcements are always wise.

Last season, Liverpool had no trouble hurting other teams, managing to rack up 78 goals. On the other hand, they conceded 42, 9 more than eventual champions Chelsea. Many of these goals were as a result of preventable mistakes and their sloppiness cost them dearly. 

It has often been said that defences win championships and Liverpool's failiure to win the Premier League in the 2013/14 season will be a stark reminder of this. They finished a mere two points behind eventual winners Manchester City but would have been crowned champions if not for horrendous defending in the last few key games. The infamous 3-3 draw against Crystal Palace proving to be the most fatal.

The last time Liverpool were defesively sound was under the stewardship of Spanish coach Rafa Benitez who ensured that The Reds were mean in defense and deadly in attack. He got the balance just about right and as a result Liverpool were successful in Europe and also competed well in the Premier League.

Virgil Van Dijk not only would have provided extra cover but would have also injected quality and composure into a backline in need of it. Many fear missing out on Van Dijk will prove costly.

Liverpool will be competing in the Champions Lague this season and the quality of the opposition in that campaign will increase further. It is imperative that they give themselves every chance of lifting silverware this season and a sound defence is vital.

 

Virgil Van Dijk

Manager Jurgen Klopp is clearly tactically competent and an accomplished manager, having won the Bundesliga twice - not an easy feat, especially with heavyweights Bayern Munich involved.

With this in mind, he will no doubt have a plan to make his defence less vulnerable and will almost certainly acquire another centre back in January if he feels this is necessary.

Until then, it will be interesting to see how robust the defence will be against increased pressure. 

If they fail in this regard the decision not to strengthen the central defence will certainly come back to haunt them.