‘Really good’: It sounds like Jurgen Klopp has made his defensive decision

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It appears Jurgen Klopp has made his big defensive decision for the season. The Liverpool boss had a tough call to make.

Liverpool’s defence is a mess this season, through little fault of their own. Yes, you can say that three senior centre-halves are too few for a full campaign. That’s a valid point.

But that’s not a decision that should cripple your season. Liverpool losing all three options to season-ending injuries is, undoubtedly, bizarre.

So after some late January dealings, Liverpool now have four or five options. They have Nat Phillips, Ozan Kabak, Rhys Williams and Ben Davies as natural options.

Then there’s Fabinho. He’s not a natural centre-half but he’s performed well there this season. Only, Liverpool also need him in midfield and have to deal with the fact there’s only one of him.

None of Liverpool’s natural centre-back options are particularly strong, though. Kabak is the most experienced at the top level but he’s only 20. The others had literally zero top-flight experience ahead of this season.

Fabinho has that experience in spades – just not in defence. And that leaves Liverpool with a difficult choice. Do they trust an inexperienced centre-back pairing in big games or do they throw Fabinho back there to help?

Well, it appears Jurgen Klopp has made his decision.

‘Looked really good’

Klopp went with Kabak and Phillips against RB Leipzig, moving Fabinho back into midfield. It was a big success, too, with all three performing well.

And it sounds as though everyone has earned Klopp’s trust.

“It looked really good,” Klopp said of the Leipzig game, per the Liverpool Echo. “If they are physically ready to go again then why should we change it? That’s clear.

“You want to have consistency and we never had it [this season]. Hopefully they can play a lot of games if not all of the rest.

“If not then we have to find solutions again.”

Klopp sounds fairly confident that he should stick with the Phillips/Kabak partnership. And that’s great to hear – as he says, consistency is something Liverpool haven’t had.

Having Fabinho back in midfield is a game-changer, too. He allows the midfield to be a far stronger unit and helps the centre-backs.

Klopp is ready to head in this direction. Phillips and Kabak are the centre-back duo going forward.