11 Feb 2016

Lawro blasts: £12m Liverpool star isn't 'good enough' and 'cannot defend properly'. Sell?

With the rise of Brad Smith, and the return of Jon Flanagan, Liverpool now have several viable left-back options in the squad, which means Alberto Moreno's place in the team may come under threat. Moreno continues to suffer costly concentration lapses (which often lead to opposition goals), and according to Reds legend Mark Lawrenson, the Spaniard is one of the weakest links in Liverpool's increasingly porous defence.

In his column this week for the Liverpool Echo, Lawro slammed Liverpool's leaky defence, and singled out Moreno for specific criticism:

"They [Liverpool's defenders] aren't good enough. The whole defence keeps on making individual mistakes. We have players like Alberto Moreno who is good going forward but just cannot defend properly".

In the league last season, Moreno made four individual errors that led to goals, and he's continued the trend this season, with several costly errors against the likes of Chelsea, Norwich, and Stoke City.

Moreno's poor positioning is also a concern, and he's routinely caught in no mans land, which brings added pressure on the team.

Lawro claims that Moreno - who cost Liverpool £12m - is 'good going forward', but I personally disagree with this. Moreno's league stats since signing for LFC:

* 2 goals/1 assists in 52 apps (One every 1363 mins)

* Shots On Target: 10 (One every 409 mins)

* Shooting Accuracy: 34%

* Successful Crosses: 30 (One every 136 mins)

* Crossing Accuracy: 20%

The one attacking area in which Moreno excels is chance creation (80 chances created in 52 apps), but with only ONE assist, it's clear (to me) that Moreno needs to create *better* chances for his team-mates.

Ultimately, the key question is this: Can Liverpool do better (offensively and defensively) than Moreno? In other words, are there any left-backs out there capable of making fewer goal-producing mistakes *and* scoring/creating a goal more often than once every 1363 mins?

If not, then there's a serious problem with Liverpool's scouting system.

Author: Jaimie K


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