Someone has to take the heat.
For much of the season so far, it’s been the same story just a different day from Liverpool.
They’ve been decent going forward, they’ve been doing some damage up top – maybe not enough for the possession that they have in the advanced areas of the field, but they haven’t been as prolific as they should be.
This was the case in Tuesday night’s Champions League clash with Spartak Moscow, where they ended up sharing the spoils in a game that they had so many chances to win.
But that isn’t Jurgen Klopp’s main problem, it isn’t Liverpool’s main problem. Their problem is that their defence is vulnerable at all times, there’s a lack of leadership, a lack of fight, a lack of anybody making those crucial decisions.
There have been many culprits in Liverpool’s defensive failings, but there is no doubting that the two most glaring problems come on the left-hand side with the Moreno-Lovren axis.
Kevin Kilbane was speaking on TV3’s Champions League coverage on Tuesday night when he called the two men out, their lack of communication and their lack of understanding.
“Moreno, yes he is poor defensively, Lovren, inside him, I don’t see him being any better. I don’t see him taking any responsibility, I think the distance between Lovren and Moreno is far too close,” said the Mayo man.
“I think they over-compensate at times and that’s why they get caught so often down the sides. We saw it in the Hoffenheim game, those two in particular have been poor, and I think those two in particular on Liverpool’s left side defensively have been culpable.
“Yes, they have missed the chances tonight, but Lovren and Moreno as a pairing don’t look good to me at all.”
Kilbane feels that a part of this blame must be attributed to Jurgen Klopp, not even for not strengthening the squad in this area, but for a perceived lack of focus on this side of the game on the training ground.
“But, surely they’re the things that they should be working on in the training ground, the unit and to try and get it right, but they seem to get it wrong constantly,” he added.
“I know that Moreno bombs forward, and that’s what Klopp wants him to do, but I’m talking about when they’re back in the shape of the team, he over-compensates, and I don’t see Lovren telling him ‘you don’t need to be so close to me.’
“I just see them quite content without anyone taking responsibility defensively.”
It’s certainly something they need to sort out. And fast.
