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LONDON: Manchester United’s problem in their 0-0 draw at Anfield, Jose Mourinho said, was that they kept waiting for the game to break but it didn’t. Jurgen Klopp then paid tribute to the way his side had countered “one of the best counter-attacking teams in the world” by not giving them space to break into.
It was a game of chicken in which neither side had blinked. Was that, the optimistic of Merseyside wondered, a sign of a growing maturity at Liverpool? Were they finally learning how to defend?
The answer came resoundingly last weekend: It was not. Tottenham ripped Liverpool apart. They scored four but could have had six or seven. Every sort of defensive calamity was there: General sluggishness and a failed offside trap for the first goal; a missed header and a lack of cover for the second; a weak header and a failure to pick up a lurker at the edge of the box for the third; further dead-ball lethargy for the fourth. With all of them there was a question as to whether Simon Mignolet might have done better.
It may not have been wise for Klopp to say that he could have done better had he been playing in his trainers, but it was probably true. Whatever mental fortitude his side had shown in maintaining their discipline against United had vanished, perhaps it had been no more than an illusion conjured by Mourinho’s negativity. Poor Dejan Lovren took most of the blame. Substituted after 31 minutes, he looked dazed when he came off, so much so that the assumption was he must be ill or injured; not so, said Klopp.
Except, of course, he is injured. In a recent interview in his native Croatia, Lovren said he had to take five painkillers before each game to help him play despite back and Achilles problems. Plus there have been various issues in his personal life that mean he is due a level of sympathy: Marital difficulties and a burglary at his holiday home in Croatia during which he fears he may have been drugged with a soporific gas.
At most clubs Lovren would probably have been given time out of the spotlight to recover from his injuries. But Liverpool have no other options. With Mamadou Sakho gone, the club targeted Virgil van Dijk and having failed to sign him had no back up. Klopp clearly doesn’t trust Ragnar Klavan and so Lovren is forced into regular action when it seems likely he would benefit from a break. That speaks of a clear failure of recruitment: Why spend £35 million ($45 million) on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain when there was there was such a clear shortfall elsewhere? And yet to speak in terms of transfers is perhaps to be side-tracked from the greater point, which is that this is not an issue of personnel. Or rather, it isn’t just an issue of personnel. Playing under Mauricio Pochettino at Southampton, Lovren was a good defender; that’s why Liverpool bought him. But at Anfield, first under Brendan Rodgers and now Klopp, he has become a laughing stock, cruelly nicknamed Dejan Vu for the familiarity of his mistakes.
While off-field circumstances have not helped, part of the problem is to do with structure. Whereas at Southampton, Lovren had Morgan Schneiderlin protecting him, at Liverpool he has had Steven Gerrard and then Jordan Henderson at the back of midfield. Both are fine, energetic players and good passers of the ball but both are box-to-box players rather than natural holders. Neither has the discipline or tactical inclination to hold their position.
At Dortmund, Klopp had the likes of Sven Bender, Sebastian Kehl and Ilkay Gundogan to hold that position. There is no equivalent at Liverpool. That is a major structural issue to do with both tactics and recruitment.
At the same time, it is hard to believe Mignolet radiates confidence from the goal. Panic and uncertainty prevail, and Lovren is caught in the midst of it, an easy man to blame. He must take some responsibility but he’s certainly not the only one at fault.
The worry for Liverpool is that a little over two years after he took the job, Klopp appears no closer to finding a solution.