Liverpool have got something of a defensive injury crisis going on at the moment.
Obviously the defensive messiah that is Virgil Van Dijk is still there and performing at a tremendous level, but one year into his Liverpool career the idea of him as single-handedly saving the Reds defence is going to be tested as all of his defensive partners are injured.
That’s right: Joe Gomez is still out from his leg break and Joel Matip’s fractured collarbone still has him on the sidelines. They were joined on Monday by Dejan Lovren who injured his hamstring in the FA Cup defeat to Wolves on Monday. This leaves Jurgen Klopp in a bind; who exactly plays in defence next to Van Dijk this weekend against Brighton? Should he stick or twist?
Stick: work with what he’s got
Van Dijk was rested against Wolves, so Fabinho started next to Lovren at the heart of defence. However once Lovren went off with injury, 16-year-old Ki-Jana Hoever replaced the Croatian when he got hurt. Are either of these two reasonable options to play?
Well it may come a bit too soon for Hoever, who is very young and it would be a big risk to throw him in for a Premier League game. Fabinho could be an option, of course. A technical and powerful defender who is adept with the ball at his feet, he could be a solid option alongside Van Dijk in the short-term until Liverpool’s defenders return.
Liverpool’s XI vs. Brighton last season
Alternatively, Klopp could look to last year’s match at the AmEx Stadium, where Liverpool again went to the south coast with just one fit centre-back. Then Klopp adjusted the formation to play 3-5-1-1, putting Emre Can and Georginio Wijnaldum either side of Dejan Lovren.
The formation helped Liverpool romp to a 1-5 victory, although the system was somewhat electrified by the midfield genius of Philippe Coutinho (he got two assists and one goal) who is now, of course, in Barcelona. Still, though, by playing Wijnaldum and Fabinho either side of Van Dijk, Klopp could ensure that the Reds have a stable and solid base from which to launch counters and eviscerate opponents.
Liverpool’s potential XI vs. Brighton this season
Twist: enter the transfer market
Luckily for Liverpool, this injury crisis has struck whilst the transfer market is still open, meaning that the Reds have a clear and simple path to ease their woes: sign someone. But who? Emergency signings are always tricky, because anyone good will likely not be available and signing someone just to fill a short-term gap means they may not be good enough, so you’ve essentially wasted money.
But there are a handful of options that Liverpool could get to fill their defensive gap without too negatively effecting even their medium-term plans for the future. Who are their plans? Let’s have a look:
Philipp Wollscheid
The 29-year-old German defender is currently without a club, having left Metz just a few days ago. He’s tall and powerful with plenty of experience in both the Bundesliga and, yes, the Premier League. Wollscheid played for Stoke for two separate spells and whilst he didn’t exactly shake up the world, he’s shown enough quality that Klopp could work with him.
Gary Cahill
Cahill has been looking for a route out of Chelsea since the summer, and Liverpool could provide that. He’s still under contract, so a fee would need to be paid, but Cahill would bring with him some extra bonuses. Firstly he’s an experienced defender so could help mentor the younger defenders Liverpool have; and more importantly he’s actually won the Premier League (twice!) so would be able to offer the Reds a lot in terms of experience and stability.
Robert Huth
The giant German hasn’t had a club since Leicester let him go in the summer. The benefit here is that he’s big, strong and very much knows the Premier League. And of course he was a pillar of Leicester’s defence as they won the title in 2015/16, so even though he’s miles from the defender he was then, his experience could be invaluable.
Florentin Pogba
Technically Pogba is on trial at Elche, but there’s no reason why Liverpool couldn’t flex their muscle and bring him over to Anfield. He’d be free, and he’s actually a player of reasonable ability so could even be useful after everyone has returned from injury (especially as Matip is sadly never more than a couple weeks away from his next injury). He’d need to adapt to living in England, but then again his brother does already live in the area so that wouldn’t be a problem.
The post Stick or twist? How Jurgen Klopp can fix Liverpool’s CB shortage appeared first on Squawka News.
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