AS Jurgen Klopp admitted, Liverpool’s defence must improve or they will have ‘real problems’ in the new Premier League season.
In losing 4-3 to Bayern Munich, they took their tally to 10 goals conceded in four pre-season games. Be it general sloppiness in individual duels, being dominated aerially from set-pieces or tactical vulnerabilities, it feels like Klopp will have boarded the long flight home from Singapore with more questions than answers
Of course, pre-season is never a true barometer but the way that Liverpool conceded their four goals will surely have irked the manager.
Serge Gnabry exploited a gaping hole on the Reds’ right flank twice in the first half, to score one and then to run free and tee up Leroy Sane.
And it all comes back to the Trent Alexander-Arnold conundrum. As reported in these pages yesterday, the Englishman is loving his new midfield role, and he is generally a joy to watch on the ball there — but that has a knock-on effect on the backline.
From right back, Alexander-Arnold strolls into central areas alongside Curtis Jones, as he did regularly against Bayern. But he was too often unable to get back into his defensive position, which left the three remaining defenders exposed.
It was a similar story in the first half of the Reds’ 4-0 win against Leicester. The Foxes had three decent chances to score at 0-0, with Ibrahima Konate skipped past twice as he scrambled to cover the gaping hole in Liverpool’s defence. Joel Matip also struggled in the first half last night.
‘In the first goal we conceded, Trent and Joel have to react better,’ said Klopp. ‘Both were standing on both feet. I don’t think the pass was one we could have avoided.
‘It was around half an hour into the game and we were feeling the intensity already then. It was a similar time in the second half with Joe Gomez and Ibou Konate. It’s not about speed, it’s about awareness, check the situation, in football there are no breaks.’
Klopp added that he saw enough to work with in terms of positive performances — and it must be said that pre-season is never time to panic. It must also be noted that several of Bayern’s goals looked clearly offside.
Liverpool were momentarily worried that summer signing Alexis Mac Allister had suffered a nasty injury after screaming in pain and hobbling off the pitch at the end of the first half, but after the game Klopp played down fears over the knock to the midfielder’s knee and said he was removed as a precaution.
Another question bugging Klopp will be the continued saga over who to start in the No 6 role at Chelsea on the opening weekend of the season. Jones played both Singapore friendlies in the holding role after the unplanned exits of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson.
The 22-year-old from Liverpool is a tidy footballer in possession. On a number of occasions against Bayern, Jones received the ball facing his own goal and appeared to be about to lose possession only to wriggle free, turn and start an attack.
But is he physical and defensively solid enough to play there in big games? At times, Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies ran past him easily.
‘Curtis is definitely one of the options, it’s no secret we’re looking for new players to join us,’ said Klopp this week. One question that might have been somewhat answered in this outing against the German champions was who leads the line against Chelsea.
Cody Gakpo started in the No 9 role and scored Liverpool’s first goal in an accomplished performance that saw him show why Klopp likes him so much.
The Dutchman started and finished the move of the match after just two minutes when he picked the ball up on the halfway line, played a quick give-and-go with Diogo Jota, then finished well with his weaker left foot.
Luis Diaz also played well and scored in the second half and he is another player set for a big season after a frustrating campaign last term that was wrecked by injury. On the Colombian, Klopp said: ‘Pre-season is massive for everyone but for Lucho especially.
‘We won’t be as tired during the season as we were today. But there will be moments when you feel the intensity and you still have to make the right decisions. You get punished when you don’t do that. That’s part of the pre-season experience.
‘Give me another hour and I’ll look back and see it (the loss) as a really good lesson and I’ll be even happier that we made the mistakes today rather than in 10 days (against Chelsea
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