05 Mar 2017 12:22:33
Liverpool's big problem is defending, and it hasn't been top notch for a long time.

Contrasting the Leicester and Arsenal games much of what Ed1 has said holds true about lack of desire being a large factor etc. To my mind though until we are very tough to break down, and do it consistently, we will always have trouble against teams in the bottom half of the division.

If teams think it is very hard to score against you then psychologically you already have the upper hand, and in addition on your bad days you generally only need one goal to get
3 points.

It's human nature for the level of performance, motivation and such to fluctuate, but being good defensively is something achievable even on bad days, so therefore if Liverpool are to win the division again then this is where the large improvement is needed otherwise we will continue to flatter to deceive.

1.) 05 Mar 2017
05 Mar 2017 17:31:29
Good post
Other teams happy to put the ball into out box as anything can happen, half the time we don't know what our goalie will do.
We do have a very good first 11
If any of them are out then we struggle
Against burnley Mane was out
Against Bournmouth Matip ans Couthinhio were out
Against Sunderland away Couthinio ans Henderson were out
Against Hull away Wijnaldum was dropped to bench
Swansea home Mane and Matip missing
Leicester away Henserson out
Hopefully Klopp can sort some good signings in the summer so we not realiant on our first 11.

2.) 05 Mar 2017
05 Mar 2017 19:58:46
I think we need to prioritise a centre back who reads the game well and is imperious in the air, as well as up for physical battles.

The main way teams bypass our high press is by lumping it forward to either a target man or a physical number 9 who will try and bully defenders to run off the shoulder. That wasn't an issue for Klopp at Dortmund because Hummels and Subotic were both monsters in the air and read the flight of the ball so well they cut out the long balls.

At Liverpool we have:
- Matip who reads the game well but isn't very physical. I think his ankle injury not being 100% healed is holding him back as at Schalke nobody could touch him in physical or aerial battles.
- Lucas who is too slow and weak to regularly win battles against the likes of Vardy, Costa or Lukaku. Luckily he reads the game very well or he would be torrid at centre back instead of just the average centre back he actually is.
- Klavan who is decent enough and doesn't ever get bullied, but is quite late to see danger.
- Gomez who simply isn't ready.
- and lastly Lovren who is dreadful in the air and at reading the game, so relies on aggression and being quicker than the forward (which he rarely is) to make countless recoveries.

We do not have an absolutely dominant centre back. Klavan and Matip are probably the closest to what Klopp wants but Ed002 forewarned us that Matip was not as good as we were expecting. I'm still hoping he proves 002 wrong as he started to before Christmas, but he has looked fragile in 2017. Klavan was obviously only intended to be experienced back up in light of Kolo leaving.

Long term maybe Gomez and Matip will develop into a great, dominant pairing but I'm not so sure. I think they are both too soft and more ball playing defenders than physically dominant leaders. We need to replace Lovren in our starting XI with a monster of a player who will kick danger into the stratosphere before it even develops. That is probably why the likes of Sule and Tah have been touted as great fits. Sule is obviously a no go after agreeing to sign for Bayern but I would propose we break the bank for somebody really physical and dominant in the air to partner Matip. I really hope we don't sign yet another centre back for their "quality on the ball".

3.) 05 Mar 2017
05 Mar 2017 19:28:28
Personally i don't think it is desire, or at least desire alone. I can't believe for one second that the amount of times Liverpool have been thumped by the lower end teams this season is purely down to the players lack of effort. I don't think it is unfair to rule out tactics against these teams that will set up more defensive and hit Liverpool on the counter attack. Im pretty sure that the Liverpool players after being beaten a few times by lesser teams would want to "sort it out" the next time they play a team of similar calibre.

4.) 05 Mar 2017
05 Mar 2017 20:57:56
Nastasic would be decent.

5.) 06 Mar 2017
05 Mar 2017 23:54:18
Could anyone clear up the hype on Gomez? How many minutes has the lad played to claim such a statement " He is the future "?

6.) 06 Mar 2017
06 Mar 2017 00:10:51
I think it's 95% tactics and 5% us dropping our level. Actually I think one leads to the other. In most games we've lost it's because we've been so comfortable in the game that we've just lost concentration and been hit on the break. Against the top teams they want the ball and that just plays into our hands.

The lower teams let's us have all of the possession and we get complacent and over commit leaving us short at the back. We need the first goal in these games and when we don't get it we struggle.

7.) 06 Mar 2017
06 Mar 2017 00:23:13
It's frustrating knowing we are one of the best, if not the highest scoring team in the prem? idk i can't remember exactly what they said during the arsenal game but being so inconstant at the back. Personally for next season id like to see a solid left back and solid cb to partner with matip, i love gomez but i don't want to throw him straight in after injury and then if something goes wrong some fans start slating the boy, that's the last thing he needs!

and dare i say a new GK, idk what the coaching for the keepers behind the scenes is but i don't remember migs being this bad for sunderland and im sure karius was a lot more confident in germany so it could be something behind the scenes which maybe isn't quite clicking.

8.) 06 Mar 2017
06 Mar 2017 09:55:21
Harry, I have asked the very same question and not a sou has been able to answer that question logically.

Now regarding losing vs lesser teams, it is a combination of all that has been mentioned here.

Tactics - Not being able to move the ball quickly enough and create space for third man runners from midfield to score.

Injuries - Having our good players out and lack of depth

Belief and determination - seems like we lose belief and concentration when we don't make the break through early in such games hence we start panicking, the crowd get impatient and the players start trying to force the issue instead of remaining patient in their play. These are all things that Klopp has to fix and the players have to be ready to fight and claw for three points in every game cos every point will matter going forward and the shambles at LC should NEVER happen again.

9.) 07 Mar 2017
07 Mar 2017 01:38:03
Gomez has already played for the first team and did not look out of place.
As a teenager he has shown he has the temperament to handle the premier league.
He certainly has the physical attributes though injury will have taken a lot out of him.
He just needs to "learn the position" of centre back for which he needs to play. I'd rather see him in there than Lucas but I don't think he starts ahead of Lovren or Klavan.