Jack Hallows believes that this much discussed, new-look Liverpool defensive unit justified the hype against Crystal Palace… and they weren’t even complete.
Liverpool’s attacking unit has never been under question during Jürgen Klopp’s tenure on Merseyside with goals always being found in one way or another.
Whether it’s through moments of individual brilliance, rapid pace on the counter-attack or fluid and intelligent movement, the Reds forward thinking players will more often than not find an answer to any problem that is put in front of them.
The defence however, hasn’t always afforded Klopp the same luxury.
Admittedly, when the German arrived on the scene he didn’t exactly have the most awe-inspiring personnel at his disposal.
A regular rear-guard of Simon Mignolet behind Alberto Moreno, Mamadou Sakho, Martin Skrtel or a 34 year old Kolo Toure and Nathaniel Clyne (the admitted outlier of the bad bunch) just screams “we’re going to have to score five away to Norwich to win the game.”
Loris Karius, Joël Matip and Ragnar Klavan were recruited for Klopp’s first full season in charge but injuries and a lack of cover meant that the same old problems surfaced time and again for the German.
In truth, it really hasn’t been until January this year that we’ve seen any stark contrast.
It took a significant outlay of £83m to start fixing up the Reds back-line last season, with the introduction of Virgil van Dijk and integration of Andrew Robertson on the left hand side of the defence making Liverpool look a far more solid unit.
Perhaps that’s the key word: unit.
Where Liverpool had previously possessed players of decent enough quality on their day, there was no real unity, consistency or indeed leadership at the back.
Nobody was willing to take responsibility and while opposition attackers admittedly weren’t creating a high number of chances, when they did bypass our back four they did so in a manner whereby they were more likely to score than not.
Since the introduction of our big Dutchman however, this problem has become far less notable.
Even on occasions where teams have found the back of the net, it’s more often than not taken something special – or freakish – to do so.
Take the Champions League final for example. As painful as it is to remember, it was two goalkeeping errors and a wonder-goal from Gareth Bale that 9 times out of 10 he doesn’t score that did it for the Reds.
No instances of shambolic defending, no horrendous defensive errors that gifted opposition attackers one on one opportunities and no disturbingly poor efforts at defending set-pieces.
The further introduction of Alisson Becker ensures that these goalkeeping ‘accidents’ do not occur again.
The Brazilian’s introduction has brought composure, confidence and improved distribution to the Reds’ backline while his ability to read play and sweep effectively when needed allows Klopp to field his preferred high defensive line.
While Dejan Lovren improved remarkably last season following his Wembley meltdown, the inclusion of Joe Gomez at his expense has brought extra pace and communication to the back four.
His lack of Lovren’s hot-headed streak also means that ‘VVD’ is able to focus less on covering and more on opposition positioning, making the Reds’ defensive wall appear far bigger than it actually is.
While Gomez is only young, Klopp is clearly a big fan and during post-West Ham media coverage, Martin Keown was found describing the Englishman and his senior partner as a pair of “Rolls Royces” in the Reds’ defence after they barely gave the Hammers a sniff at goal and effectively rendered new keeper Alisson a spectator for much of the match.
Once again, despite being faced up against the pace and skill of Wilfried Zaha and the brute strength of Benteke, Gomez held firm against Crystal Palace, putting in another supreme performance, winning three tackles, making two blocks, two interceptions and completing 90% of his passes.*
Next to him, ‘VVD’ went into a class of his own, winning nine aerial duels (the most on the pitch), completing 92% of his passes, making two successful tackles and completing 11 further defensive actions.*
In fairness, Palace did provide a much sterner test for Liverpool’s defence than West Ham but like many any opponent before them, the Eagles were limited to mostly half chances throughout.
The difference? Alisson was there to make the saves he needed to.
A first half effort from Townsend rattled the cross-bar from distance but remarkably, when you watch the moment back, Alisson genuinely looks as if he may have had it covered had Townsend found that little extra dip on the shot.
The Brazilian was again called into action in the second half, sprawling across quickly to his left to save a well hit free-kick and getting down low to mop up a potentially tricky Benteke header.
While on the face of things it doesn’t do huge amounts for defensive security, Alisson’s distribution is also sensational and his ability to remain composed while opposition attackers press him, get his head up and find a teammate is key for getting his side out of trouble and relieving pressure at the back.
In summary, Liverpool’s defence did everything they were required to against Palace and all without the presence of a specialist holding midfielder to shield them – Gini Wijnaldum once again being fielded in the role.
Once he’s bedded in, the addition of Fabinho in the ‘6’ role will only further aid in tightening Liverpool’s defensive security, while the addition of Naby Keïta has already brought about major improvements in the Reds’ pressing from midfield.
The club have now kept two clean sheets from their first two matches in the Premier League for the first time since 2015, a remarkable improvement on the six conceded in their first two in 2016/17 and three last season.
While they are of course going to face much tougher tests across the course of the season, obviously conceding some goals along the way, it’s looking far more likely that the final total of conceded goals will be much closer to the 25-30 mark than the regular 40-50 they’ve been shipping over recent seasons.
It’s also encouraging to see that post both matches, the defensive unit have found a moment to come together and celebrate their clean sheet how you would a goal, showing just how much this side now covets performing at both ends of the pitch.
We know from experience that it is all well and good to score plenty of goals across the course of a season but if you’re going to run a team like Guardiola’s Man City side close for the title, you’ve got to stop conceding them too.
This Liverpool defence and their manager might just have found a way to do that.
*Stats taken from WhoScored.com.
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