Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool must “go back to basics” to regain defensive solidity, looking back at the situation they faced in 2020/21.
As the coach reminded reporters during his pre-Rangers news conference on Monday, it was only two years ago that the wheels began to fail in an unprecedented injury crisis.
Virgil van Dijk suffered a season-ending ACL injury in a 2-2 draw with Everton in October 2020, soon followed by Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, leaving Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to replace him.
Late deals were made to bring in Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies in the winter transfer window, but the campaign ended with Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams in the center of defence, a no-nonsense approach that helped the Reds finish third. .
While Liverpool are far from the dire straits of 2020/21, they are certainly in a difficult position this time around, with their defensive efforts particularly poor.
And speaking at Anfield on Monday afternoon, Klopp explained how patterns were emerging, as seen in the 3-3 draw with Brighton, that showed his team needed to “go back to basics”.
“We grant similar targets now, let me put it that way, where they go through the same gaps,” he said.
“The special problem we have is that we have a really brave way of defending, and when the timing of our defense is not perfect, we leave a hole open.
“It was always like that, by the way, but because of the pressure we put on the boy with the ball, no one really recognized him, because we closed it out with intensity, if you will.
“So if you don’t do that, then this gap is open for a brief moment and Brighton used it quite often – he passes the ball through our gap, between the lines, where they could spin and this sort of thing, and that does complicated.
“We have to be more compact.
“We have that in mind, we know that, but the moment it goes well, you do it and you do it again, but at the moment it’s still not right, that’s it.
“We said it last week, I think, that defending is a kind of art. It worked for us for a long time, very well.
“But when it doesn’t work anymore, you realize step by step how much you have to go back to basics, so you defend solid again.”
The problem this time is not a shortage of personnel, but rather a lack of quality and consistency among the players Klopp has come to rely on, such as Van Dijk, Fabinho and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
With Rangers heading to Anfield on Tuesday night, the manager is expecting a more diligent approach at the back, suggesting he could tweak his setup a bit.
“We can’t always start thinking completely new, ‘what can we do?'” he insisted.
“But if we can help the guys with a different way of defending it, we will.
“We have to be more solid, we have to make it more compact, definitely, and that’s what we try to be.”
