The players who could solve Liverpool's defensive crisis
The Reds are now without Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk, so what next?
Hello, I’m back writing about Virgil van Dijk. I don’t really want to make this a regular feature, but if Liverpool defenders keep getting injured then I might have to.
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I used to jokingly (definitely wasn’t a joke) say Liverpool were cursed. I was convinced we’d made a deal, of sorts, during half-time in Istanbul and that was why success had been scarce ever since. The Steven Gerrard slip, Loris Karius in Kyiv and then missing out on the title despite racking up 97 points. I believed covid would bring the 2019/20 season to a premature end, but it didn’t. The title was ours, the drought was over and the curse was lifted..or so I thought.
Big LOL at me, eh.
Already without Virgil Van Dijk for the season, Joe Gomez’s injury on international duty is believed to be serious. If that is true, we’re unlikely to see him again this year meaning Jurgen Klopp will be without his title-winning centre-back pairing.
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Fabinho is only just returning from a hamstring injury while Joel Matip’s appearance against Manchester City was just his third of the season. Trent Alexander-Arnold hobbled off against Pep Guardiola’s side, adding to Liverpool’s injury crisis. The Premier League champions might now be ruing their decision to not sign someone to take Dejan Lovren’s place in the squad after the Croatian left for Zenit.
Rhys Williams has done an admirable job when called upon while Nat Phillips did well in his outing against West Ham United. Having said that, Liverpool can’t keep playing pass the parcel with their centre-back pairing. They’re going to have to go shopping when the transfer window reopens.
We covered potential Van Dijk replacements in a previous newsletter. However, with Gomez now out as well, the Reds might need to sign multiple centre-backs. The former Charlton man has a different profile to the Liverpool No.4, but the pair do share some traits largely because there are a number of requirements that Klopp places on his central defenders.
They need to be comfortable seeing a lot of the ball and progressive when picking out passes. There’s an expectation that they’re a bully in the air and be dominant on the deck, too. During the title win, three of the four centre-backs won over 70% of their aerial duels, for example. The quartet also all had a minimum pass accuracy of 88%.
When looking for players Liverpool could potentially bring in, those averages are the preferred targets, but there is a bit of wiggle room. After all, the reason Van Dijk is the best in the world is because he’s peerless.
We’ve already profiled Duje Caleta-Car so I won’t be including him in this. To start off, we’ll look at aerial and ground duels.
Those included are players linked with Liverpool and some players that people mentioned after reading the Van Dijk article. David Alaba on a free transfer sounds very nice. Simply put, though, he’s not really a physical centre-back. On FIFA, it’d be a great signing but I’m not entirely sure how he’d adapt to the rigours of the Premier League when his aerial duel success rate has been sub-50% since the start of the 2019/20 campaign.
Gomez’s numbers have dropped this year with players targeting him in Van Dijk’s absence. But looking at the graphic, he’s not in bad company. Highly-rated centre-backs Jules Kounde, Benoit Badiashile and Edmond Tapsoba are posting similar averages to the Liverpool No.12, while Dayot Upamecano isn’t too far away. Ibrahima Konate, his RB Leipzig team-mate, is a bit of an aerial behemoth, winning 75% of his duels. He’s back in Julian Nagelsmann’s plans after a spell on the sidelines injured. If he manages to stay fit, the 6ft4ins Frenchman has the potential to the one of the best in Europe.
Graphic courtesy of FBRef and Statsbomb
Another player who impresses in this particular area is Marin Pongracic. Now, he’s barely played for Wolfsburg having signed for them in January 2020. He’s been ruled out with Mono and he suffered a number of niggles during his time with Red Bull Salzburg. However, when he is fit, the FC Bayern academy player does post some intriguing numbers. Jan Riha mentioned him to me and I decided to take a look. Across 4,200 minutes, the 23-year-old won an impressive 70% of his aerial duels and 70% of his ground duels.
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Marcel Schafer, Wolfsburg’s Sporting Director, highlighted his on-ball ability after signing him: “He’s quick and good at building play from the back. Despite his young age, he has also gained considerable experience at both domestic and European level during his time at Salzburg.”
Throughout his career, he’s maintained a pass accuracy average of 88%. He ticks both key boxes in that regard and he’s the only one on the list to do so. Others have similar passing numbers to the versatile Croatian under-21 international, but none are as physical as he is.
Pongracic attempts north of 50 passes per 90 and 10% of those are classed as long balls. There’s a variety to his game and this what Liverpool want from their centre-backs. Obviously, signing a player considered to be a little injury prone isn’t the best idea to solve an injury crisis. But Michael Edwards and the recruitment team might have to get a little creative to help Klopp navigate his way through this tough period as safely as possible.
We know quality centre-backs are at a premium and because of this, they have eye-watering price-tags placed upon them. However, we know that players can improve when used in the right system within the right environment.
With this in mind, swoops for a Pongracic and a Konate might make more sense than, say, just signing an Upamecano. It looks bleak, but there are ways Liverpool can come out of this situation as winners without having overpaid or been forced into a panic buy.
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