Jurgen Klopp really needs to fix what’s going at right-back for Liverpool at the moment.
With four days left of the transfer window, the Reds are still on the hunt to strengthen in a couple of areas. Central midfield is an obvious one that could do with improvement, as is centre-back.
But according to former Liverpool forward Ryan Babel, Jurgen Klopp also needs to sort out his right-back situation.
“We need to fix that RB position asap…” the 36-year-old wrote on Twitter during yesterday’s 2-1 win over Newcastle.
It’s unclear whether Babel meant via a transfer, or just a tactical shift. But Trent Alexander-Arnold continues to polarise opinion.
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Babel calls for right-back fix
Right-back was not really a problem for Liverpool yesterday. Yes, Trent could have been sent off and then made a mistake for the Magpies’ goal, but they were isolated incidents.
In that past the 24-year-old has been guilty of not doing the basics that should be second nature to a player in his position. But yesterday was not one of those times.
Instead, Alexander-Arnold simply made a couple of individual errors that he wouldn’t normally make.
The ball could have rolled under anyone’s foot in that position to allow Anthony Gordon to open the scoring. It would be bizarre to suggest that Gordon scored that goal because Trent isn’t a good enough right-back.
Nevertheless, Babel does have a point, to a degree. It isn’t Alexander-Arnold, for us, he’s fine where he is. But unless Liverpool bring in a back-up, Joe Gomez is currently his deputy.
That in itself isn’t terrible, Gomez has done well there in seasons past. But with options starting to deplete at centre-back, the 26-year-old is needed there instead.
We don’t have cover, and we really could do with someone pushing Trent to get the best out of him. For now though, we don’t think that will happen.