Jurgen Klopp has conceded that Liverpool are still being sabotaged by one major defensive weakness.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo on Wednesday, Klopp noted West Brom's physicality, and admitted:
"There is one real weakness and it's set-pieces. The good news is it's not easy to outplay us; the bad news is, we don't defend at 100% on set-pieces".
Set-pieces are a persistent issue for Liverpool, but to be fair, with the calming presence of Joel Matip, and a rejuvenated Dejan Lovren showing his worth, the Reds appear to be much better equipped to deal with the set-piece problem.
Klopp also outlined one possible solution to the problem:
"We can't avoid the set-piece [but] as long as we have the ball, they cannot do something else – they have to defend us".
True, but that's not enough. No team has 100% possession, and all it takes is just one effective free-kick/corner in 90 minutes of football to rob the team of the full three points.
On a related note: Liverpool arguably have more than 'one' real weakness. I can think of at least 2 more:
* Inflexible Approach. Klopp seemingly has no plan B to deal with defensively strong teams (and by 'plan B', I don't mean hoofing the ball up to a big striker). The Man United game showed this yet again.
* Pressing Issue: Liverpool don't perform well when opposition teams play them at their own counter-pressing game. Again, it comes back to having no plan B. Again, the Man United game starkly illustrated this, especially in the atrocious first-half.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo on Wednesday, Klopp noted West Brom's physicality, and admitted:
"There is one real weakness and it's set-pieces. The good news is it's not easy to outplay us; the bad news is, we don't defend at 100% on set-pieces".
Set-pieces are a persistent issue for Liverpool, but to be fair, with the calming presence of Joel Matip, and a rejuvenated Dejan Lovren showing his worth, the Reds appear to be much better equipped to deal with the set-piece problem.
Klopp also outlined one possible solution to the problem:
"We can't avoid the set-piece [but] as long as we have the ball, they cannot do something else – they have to defend us".
True, but that's not enough. No team has 100% possession, and all it takes is just one effective free-kick/corner in 90 minutes of football to rob the team of the full three points.
On a related note: Liverpool arguably have more than 'one' real weakness. I can think of at least 2 more:
* Inflexible Approach. Klopp seemingly has no plan B to deal with defensively strong teams (and by 'plan B', I don't mean hoofing the ball up to a big striker). The Man United game showed this yet again.
* Pressing Issue: Liverpool don't perform well when opposition teams play them at their own counter-pressing game. Again, it comes back to having no plan B. Again, the Man United game starkly illustrated this, especially in the atrocious first-half.
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