Coming as it did immediately after a comprehensive defeat to Arsenal, Liverpoolâs 4-0 win over Fulham on Saturday will have pleased manager Brendan Rodgers for a number of reasons. Among the foremost will have been the clean sheet kept by his side â their first in eight outings, a stretch in which he has seen his defence pierced by the likes of West Brom, Crystal Palace and Sunderland. Though Liverpool have enjoyed as fine a start to the season as they could have wished for, their 23 points garnered from their opening 11 games has largely been due to their much-vaunted strike-force than any long-standing defensive resilience. It didnât look to be going this way at the seasonâs start, as the Merseysiders began their campaign with a succession of three 1-0 wins that displayed a welcome degree of grit and ugliness â although, it should be said, even at this point, the win against Stoke required a ninetieth-minute penalty save, while Aston Villa, a week later, spurned various good chances on their way to defeat. After these trio of George Graham-style victories, though, Liverpool have gone on to reveal a soft underbelly to their side; a side which, despite a litany of seasoned defenders, has not looked to be built on firm grounding. The fact of the matter is that Liverpool have committed the most defensive errors of any Premier League side, with 11. Fortunately, only one of these has led directly to a goal â as opposed to, say, five of Norwichâs 10 errors â but this good fortune cannot be relied upon indefinitely. It could well be the case that the Redsâ high rate of defensive mistakes is in some part due to the system which has recently been employed. Rodgersâ decision to play three centre-halves, flanked by wing-backs in a 3-5-2 formation, appeared to be borne of both his sudden plethora of central defenders and the need to station both Suarez and Sturridge together centrally. It was, essentially, a pragmatic use of the tools he found himself with. And in fairness to Rodgers, it has proved something of a success â Liverpool have only been defeated on one occasion while employing the 3-5-2, scoring 12 goals in 5 games before Saturdayâs reversion to a back four. They also, though, conceded seven, and it should be said that the back three themselves never spent an entire 90 minutes looking either fully comfortable or especially resilient. In a way, then, the formation could be both something of a cause and a solution to the on-going defensive issues: the back three tend to make mistakes due to the unfamiliar system, but the strike partnership enabled by the system has papered over the cracks. It could also be the case, though, that Liverpoolâs defenders are simply, as individuals, more susceptible to making errors than many of their peers. Martin Skrtel, for instance, veers between formidable and feeble at the drop of a hat. So far this season, it should be said, he has been generally very good, but he is certainly a player not immune to the indignity of the unforced error. Kolo Toure is a similar case in point: a centre-back whose palpable commitment has already won him a cult following at Anfield, and who is generally a fine asset, but who is, on occasion, prone to mystifying moments of slapstick â hopefully his inexplicably panicked, backwards toe-punt into touch at the Emirates a couple of weeks ago proves to be the exception rather than a foreboding glimpse of things to come, but he is another who over his career has become well-acquainted with moments of both very high and very low quality, with seemingly little interest in the ground in between the two extremes. Mamadou Sakho is a slightly different case â a defender who may open himself up to errors on account of his inclination to take stride riskily upfield and his aversion to the safety-first hoof. Both are qualities that will buy him friends in the Anfield stands and dugout alike, but also ones that, when misjudged, can be punished in the most draconian fashion by opposition forwards. Daniel Agger falls under the same umbrella here, although picks his opportunities more carefully than the Frenchman and exudes less of an aura of fallibility. What all these players do share, however, is proven class and high-level pedigree. Daniel Agger is the captain of Denmark and one of the divisionâs most generously thought-of centre-backs. Martin Skrtel has played 160 times in the top-flight, he also has an Anfield Player of the Year gong to his name, and was the object of yearning for Man City just over a year ago. Kolo Toure played 37 of the 38 games of Arsenalâs unbeaten title-winning season, and owns winnerâs medals from two Premier League and three FA Cup campaigns. Mamadou Sakho was named captain of the current French champions at the ridiculous age of 17 â was the clubâs permanent captain at 20 â and has already played over 200 top-level games at the age of 23. These players may be prone to the odd mishap when short of confidence or if theyâre drawn out of their comfort zone, but they are no mugs. No mugs, and surely footballers who will, in due time, provide a better base of defensive solidity than has been the case in recent weeks. The return to a flat back four against Fulham certainly hinted than Rodgers was well aware that the back-three arrangement wasnât breeding sturdiness. Though each of the four players in question will feel aggrieved to be left out of a Liverpool line-up, it looks as though, with the return of Jose Enrique and Glen Johnson, only two of them are likely to be called upon at once. Which two it is that are selected in a way matters less than the fact that theyâre selected within a more familiar and well-acquainted tactical set-up. In theory, then, a reversion to a back four may well help minimise the sideâs defensive errors, especially with the side as a whole now visibly far more comfortable with the managerâs footballing style and ambitions. Whether this has repercussions further up the pitch though â the ingenious Philippe Coutinho not playing centrally, for instance, or a short-staffed central midfield â remains to be seen. From Squawka.com - team and player football stats please log in to view this image Source:http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs...e-cost-liverpool-top-four-spot-155410359.html
what we are looking for is another Henchoz/Hyypia or Carra/Hyypia type partnership. whoever it ends up being out the choices we have no idea, not sure how good it is with a defence to keep chopping and changing though, we need to have a settled back 4 and find it quick. Sakho i would like to see tried in Lucas place sometime, maybe when we have an easier game at home see how it works. all teams, even the successful ones have had problems at the back, the trick is obviously for it not too matter too much, and as long as we can rely on Luis or Sturridge the other end to keep scoring more than we concede hopefully in time confidence will grow.
I am not buying it because of this: Goal for Goal Against Arsenal 22 10 Liverpool 21 10 Southampton 15 05 Chelsea 18 10 Manchester United 18 13 Everton 14 10 Tottenham 09 06 Manchester City 28 12 1.Best defence Southampton 2.Tottenham 3.Joint third Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea.
The original article has a point. Although your goals against is third best, you have only played twice against any top teams. (And one of them against a very poor United at home!). Viewed in that light, your defensive record is not that great...
Bolloxs. You have just argued that imaginary goals against, that have not actually happened, make our actual statistic different than all the others. Object of the game is to win points. And this "look who you've played" argument is a smoke screen. Look who you've lost the points to. The Chelsea & City points might be justified but Southampton, Liverpool and West Brom? Not opposition a team expecting to win the title should be losing points to is it? More worries at home so come to visit us to point out loudly the same weaknesses? Talk about a desperate wum.
Calm down Frank. We are talking defensive record. I am not saying that United's one is perfect either. What I wrote was that the OP had a point. It is not as fanstastic as you might think it is. that's all. #paranoia
No paranoia at all mate. Completely calm and amused. Nothing I wrote indicated otherwise. My points still stand as an observation.
The article is right in saying that it's your back line that's your week spot. However, it's not a personnel issue IMO, it's merely down to the tactics being applied by your manager
I agree with that but the weak area is midfield IMO. We kept clean sheets at the start of the season with GJ, DA, KT and JE in the backline, thats not happened since.
I think thats the point the OP is making. When you are thrashing teams your defence is hardly going to be tested. It is only when you are under pressure, when you meet a top team like Arsenal away that you'll find how good your defence is. Your midfield's attacking is good against a small team but not so good at defending against a top team. That is why the matches in December are going to be revealing. #nerverackingtime
True but its not down to the players we have. Lucas, Gerrard and Henderson are all capable of protecting the defence but BR doesn't like the midfielders to track their men. Nor does BR like the CBs to step out either. This leaves space inbetween for the opposition to exploit. Inevitably, its the better sides that have the players to take advantage of this. We need to tell Lucas to sit rather than play alongside Gerrard.
