LIKE everyone, I expected to see Liverpool sign a left-back this summer. I expected it from the point when Alberto Moreno was substituted in the Capital One Cup Final against Manchester City. That day James Milner sat in at full-back. The mistake in the Europa League Final only emphasised that further — Liverpool would surely act quickly to deal with the position, as they did with the goalkeeping position. That hasn’t happened and reports overnight suggest it now isn’t going to happen in this transfer window.
Rather than ask whether or not it should have happened (it probably should is the short version of my answer to that), instead let’s wonder why we think it hasn’t happened. What has been Liverpool’s game in general around the full-back positions?
As it stands, Liverpool have no senior alternatives to Nathaniel Clyne or Moreno in either full-back position. Milner started there against Barcelona but — until recently — it would have been considered a surprise if he is to be Moreno’s main competition come September 1.
Trent Alexander Arnold was on the bench against Arsenal, presumably to come on at right back should an injury befall either of the full backs; Clyne moving to left back should Moreno need to be substituted. Arnold isn’t yet 18 and may not prove to be a senior right back.
Joe Gomez, who featured at left back last season, is injured. The manager is supposed to view the player as a centre back long term but there may be the idea he could do a job at full back this campaign. However we have no sense of how likely he is to come back from his long0term absence. Speaking of which…
Jon Flanagan has gone on loan to Burnley. His lack of match fitness might have counted against him — if he is in and out of the side it is difficult for him to get the time on the pitch he would need to build his fitness back up to ‘match-sharp’. He didn’t start at the weekend for Burnley (and can’t feature against us at the weekend). There’s also the chance Klopp and his team have a had a look at him and don’t see it working out at Liverpool.
Liverpool had an interest in 19-year-old Ben Chilwell but didn’t pursue it aggressively in terms of being prepared to pay a higher fee. Apart from that there has been no persistent left-back link. Why?
As with most things it is likely to be a variety of things. Along with there being very few genuine links to Liverpool having an interest in a left back, there have been no links to Moreno leaving the club either. Jürgen Klopp may well like Alberto Moreno. He is working with him every day. He may well feel he has room to develop and qualities he wants in his first-choice left back. First and foremost he has pace, something we’ve seen Klopp focus on this summer.
Beyond that, it is worth remarking that very few left backs have moved this summer to date. I think I am right in saying at the time of writing only two specialist left backs have been signed on permanent deals by Premier League clubs this window. The first is Arthur Masuaku, who has gone to West Ham after Aaron Cresswell’s injury for about £6million. The second is Brad Smith, who Liverpool sold for around £6m. Watford have got a lad from Napoli in on loan who is very clearly declared as a left wing back called Juan Camilo Zuniga and Chelsea have sent Baba Rahman on loan to Schalke.
This isn’t a ton of movement. There is no-one who Liverpool can be criticised for missing out on. It’s fair to point out that all the sides that finished above us last season are probably happy with their left backs and those left backs may well not be eager to move to Liverpool. Liverpool could perhaps have tried to force the issue with Cresswell before his injury or perhaps with Southampton’s Ryan Bertrand.
Klopp could look abroad but there have been no persistent links to date. It is becoming reasonably fair to assert that there hasn’t been a left full back going that Klopp likes enough to take a risk on, certainly not a risk involving eight figures.
Lastly, there may well be a tactical aspect. The manager wants his full backs so involved with play he may well think he can ask a player who has specialised elsewhere to be able to contribute from there to such a good level that the idea of getting someone in doesn’t appeal.
We’ve seen this elsewhere in recent years and it happening at full back at Liverpool may well not appeal to the purists (“first and foremost a defender must be able to defend”) but Klopp is gearing up for two very specific sets of challenges — Liverpool against the bottom 10 and Liverpool against the top six.
It has been mooted that Moreno was sitting in for Milner against Arsenal. The 30-year-old is especially intriguing in the position. He has useful attributes and attitude. The manager may well feel he can’t find a better fit for what he wants than Milner. So why go into the market?
We might think him right or wrong about all this — he’s Liverpool manager though, and will be for some time to come. He gets to make his decisions and he gets to think long term. If he can’t — for whatever reason — get the type of left back he wants for the next five years he doesn’t seem prepared to do a Ragnar Klavan style signing for the position.
It is very easy to see the roles Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum, Loris Karius, Marko Grujic and Joel Matip all have in a Klopp Liverpool squad in three years’ time, even if a player like Mahmoud Dahoud is signed next summer. Klopp is building his side.
In the meantime, respecting Klopp means respecting the decision even if we don’t agree with it. It means getting behind the player during the 90 minutes he is selected — remembering he is a Liverpool player Klopp has chosen to retain in his summer of change outside of those 90 minutes.
Alberto Moreno is Liverpool’s only senior specialist left back. This is something which has been thought about, and has been accepted, not something that has happened by accident.
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What other club with real aspiration of challenging for the title would have Moreno as their only left back?
I could go on more but I said everything I’m gonna say about him.
I find the decision akin to replacing Suarez with Balotelli.
I really hope I’m proved wrong.
you are already wrong. moreno is playing, balotelli is not.
Explain
If keeping moreno was akin to bringing in balotelli, he would have been flogged off on loan with klopp saying “no way back”. His attitude would be questioned. His agent would be in the news. But he isn’t, and they aren’t, and therefore you are wrong.
You’ve completely missed the point of what I’m saying.
I’m talking about the decision not the player in question.
I’m also talking about not bringing in ANY left back whether that be as a replacement or as competition..
why isnt anybody blaming Clyne or better still why dont the opposition use the right back route because Clyne has locked up the place and thrown the key into the Mersey, even if he is not there you cant get in
Maybe because he doesn’t give away stupid pens, or get caught in the opposition area when we are defending a 1-goal lead in injury time. Nobody is asking for perfect fullback, just one who won’t hand the opposition a goal out of nothing.
I am fine with Milner actually but it seems strange he is being asked to play on the left – notwithstanding that his left foot is probably stronger than Clyne’s. I suppose with most teams playing inverted wingers it makes him less likely to get done on the inside.
United have Luke Shaw who’s been out for a year and not really that good, plus a converted winger in Antonio Valencia as their full backs.
It seems Guardiola wants his full backs to primarily be centre midfielders.
Chelsea are persevering with Ivanovic on one side who got pelters from their lot last season for being worse than awful.
I guess the point is – what is a full back these days? the days of being a solid member of a back 4 – like Gary Neville – are gone for the most part. FBs need to be wingers, they need to create, they also need to do defending. But, football is as much about systems and structures these days. Fluidity.
Klopp has had his fabled pre-season. He has had 8 months to figure out what he wants, where he wants it and what he wants it to do. Sure, he sees Moreno on the training pitch 5 days a week, but he also sees him run up and down right in front of him and his technical crew for a min of 45 minutes each weekend. Lovren, Henderson, Klavan all play alongside Moreno. Experienced “leaders” – yet nothing. There doesn’t seems to be a peep out of anyone, no word in his ear, a calming piece of advise. All of which leads me to think that they see/know the issues here and it might not necessarily be at Moreno’s door, not 100% anyway.
Its also worth bearing in mind who each of our full backs have in front of them. Clyne, last season, had a combination of Milner or Lallana – both players who are switched on positionally and defensively.
On Sunday he had Mane who made the most tackles (6/6) and most ball recoveries (6/6) of any player on the pitch (nicked from Craig Hannan’s piece).
Moreno has Coutinho who, with the best will in the world, is not a defensive minded player.
All of this eventually adds up to a cause and effect situation. Moreno definitely is at the scene of the effect part and can be blamed for the cause at times – rash challenges etc – but not always. not the way we play.
Luke Shaw not really that good??!
Give her head a shake mate.
He hasn’t played for a year and looks as out of shape now as he did when Van Gaal dropped him for constantly being caught out of position…….
Luke Shaw was great before Utd signed him.
Many here advocated his signing as he’d solve the leftback problem for years.
He was fantastic before he got injured and looks like he’s getting back to his best.
You’re nuts if you don’t rate him.
At Southampton he was definitely something but watching the United Bournemouth game I didn’t see it. Doesn’t seem to have the same explosiveness. Reckon Milner would have done a better job actually
Milner is obviously seen as a decent left back option. He’s done pretty well when he’s played there and puts a decent ball on so I don’t see the problem. There aren’t exactly lots of decent backs out there at the moment, and Klopp will have seen Hector a lot more than any of the social media sofa managers.
We’re more of a possession team than people realise. Milner’s main strengths are his combination play wide in the final third, and his crossing. He can get up and down too. I’m excited about it.
That’s all fine. But isn’t that Morenos strengths as well? How is Milner positionally at LB? How is he at reading the opposition midfield for possible threats? How is he as a left sided partner with Klavan? How well does he know when to support Coutinho and when to stay?
I cannot believe are persevering with Moreno. He is the worst defender in the whole league. Even someone form the 2nd division could defend better than him. He’s got no positional sense, can’t sense danger, & makes reckless challenges. Moreno cost us the Europa League final for sure, & ultimately a Champions League place, very costly, especially log term. Failure to qualify for the Champions League limits the players we can sign. Moreno showed he had learnt nothing in the first friendly against Chelsea, booked after 5 minutes for a reckless tackle. He nearly cost us the game against Arsenal with a reckless challenge for the penalty, & cost us thew first goal by being out of position. If Liverpool continue to play him we will not finish in the top four. The transfer policy of Liverpool FC is a joke!
How nice to hear such positivity so early in the season! You’re entitled to your opinion, but to say as a fact that Mo “cost us the first goal” displays a level of ignorance on your part. He was in exactly the right place to support the break when Lana lost possession. That’s one of the reasons Klopp likes him.
For my part I believe he’ll use Mo more sparingly as the season progresses. He’ll be in for games against the lower half teams but either Milner or Klavan will play away from home against the top 6. Or maybe the other way round!
The perfect Frankenstein left back would have Milners head and height with Morenos speed and stamina.
Im pinning my hopes on Joe Gomez being the answer and thats why there’s no urgency to sign a left back.
Morenos had everyone pulling their hair out but thinking about it his mistakes have been so much worse because of the magnitude of the games. This is his biggest downfall, concentration in the big games. Against weaker opposition he can bomb on and stretch them but when were up against it hes a liability. He should have been back up to a solid experienced lad while he ironed out his defensive flaws(no signs of that yet).
For me he was a FSG “project” signing that has cost us while we wait for him to mature. We, as a club are a FSG project though, I think we’re going in the right direction its just taking longer than some peoples patience.
Miner is ok as a stop gap but that is not his poison I think Jurgen has got to think about a proper left back for the rest of the season
We should’ve let Rodgers sign Bertrand instead. Brendan probably got to use Moreno (and markovic, balotelli, etc.) against the committee when pushing for Benteke as well.
I’d say we’ve spent the last however many years now pre-Klopp putting together a bizarre and imbalanced squad which looked short at full back with too many no. 10s and a mess of a goalkeeping situation to clear up but then Klopp said a big reason for coming here was because he liked the look of the players. You can easily imagine the likes of Firmino and Can (even Origi) making moves to Klopp’s Dortmund if we hadn’t have signed them for instance.
A lot of hot air being spoken but the bottom line at this time is that Moreno is NOT good enough. Mistakes galore, poor positional defensive play , his crossing is average (at best), his tackling is reckless and even though he is young he does not seem to be learning, same mistakes time and time again. As for Klopp liking him I have no idea why!
Moreno will get my support when he’s wearing the shirt,Klopp deserves any criticism he will get when Moreno continues to cost us goals.
Good analysis, but the answer seems fairly simple to me. JK hasn’t found a LB he wants enough to pay for right now, and he won’t be pressured into making a decision he isn’t completely satisfied with. We all know how that turned out when BR caved in to the pressure and let Balotelli come in. We’re still paying for that failed experiment.
Moreno is now a marked man and has been identified as a weak link by opposing managers… nowhere to hide for him now.
He either starts to improve as of right now, or Liverpool will continue to suffer.
No other club with serious top four aspirations would persevere with his deficiencies… so why are we?
Why should Moreno be a protected species, immune from criticism over his performances?
Maybe the next time you interview Klopp you can ask the hard questions… why is Moreno being tolerated while other non-performers are frozen-out?
What improvement has there been in Moreno over the last two years that convinces the Manager he will come good… because I seriously can’t see it , and don’t understand it.
Think that’s more a section of our fanbase rather than opposing managers.
Elose why did arsenal stop attacking our left channel?
if he’s a marked man, how come Arsenal basically only attacked on our right flank during the 2nd half? And we let in two goals in that half btw.
I am genuinely a guy who looks at players with a glass half full outlook. We have enough whingers in our fan base who take great delight in abusing our players.
I also love Klopp like nothing else, and trust him 99%.
But for the life of me I cannot get my head around Moreno being our first choice left back. The main reason is because he is simply stupid. Literally.
There is no evidence of game intelligence, nor growth in this area. The list can go on and on with how this is manifested. But the bottom line is it gets consistently manifested in multiple ways.
Even if the mandate is for our fullbacks to push up to join the counter, as with anything, there needs to be intelligence in knowing when are the right moments, and more importantly, when aren’t the right moments. He is proving himself over and over of lacking this ability to show some basic common sense. I honestly cannot think of watching another defender who is as stupid and rash as Moreno.
I would gladly take a clone of Clyne for our left. Defensively solid and reliable, with pace, and serviceable going forward.
Very well said Davidk,to win a league you need strength in every position,moreno is a weakness and how long do we wait for him to improve and at what cost to our teams chances of winning anything
Relax.. Relax guys…I agree with a lot of the points above and never liked AM at LB for 2 yrs now. Forget the Europa Final- look through LFC conceded goals over the past 2 years and again and again he’s the main culprit of our defensive weakness – the Anfield epic vs Dorrmund- he cost us 2 goals in the 1st half as any half-brain team knows to attack though our left. Unfortunately when we win or draw v Ars in Jan or lose v City, Norwich et al everyone forgot his faults until the Europa Final highlighted them again. BR was right to hook him for Gomez- then injured under JK. so AM’s back. I have to say though- he’s a damn good Winger and could be an excellent Wing back. Great mad to attack attitude. He’s a bomber and a linker and a fabulous crosser at 90 degree angles (very rare) who can get to the corner flag so the team can advance into the box for a cross as good as a corner kick. 30 yards out and further up- he’s as good as Clyne on the opposite.. and Clyne is brilliant. But Clyne has the intelligence to know when to backtrack before he’s exposed his area. AM hasn’t the cop yet.
Jurgen knows all this and more. He was right not to go for an untried and obviously not sufficiently impressive Chidwell at that price – Klopp and co want from a flying LB. Most others are flat footed going forward or in the ‘Big Clubs (sic)’ or overrated and overweighted like Luke Shaw (LM1806 has excellent points above). Milner, Gomez (when ready) can fill in for now and Milner’s up next against Birnley. When closing out a game, Klaven, will fulfill the job until JK feels this new boy Juanma from Barca signed last week is ready and he’ll probably hold AM for Wing duty thereafter- and he could become our new ‘Lucas Lazerus’ who also befuddled us then became a darling This new boy though; despair not my friends- he’s not half bad at all. Young?.. Gomez the same age. He’s coming from a quality training Academy and he’s got good game. Michael Beale (u23 LFC coach) has stalked him awhile now and compare’s him to a young Zabaleta of City. I know it’s only You Tube ‘good lights’ but he’s got touch, pass, drive and can tackle on the backtrack and on the box. Plus- he’s got smarts and he puts his head in for ball clearances!! Klopp’s not buying for the future- he buys great unknowns of his ilk for the now. I think Beale may have this guy ready by month-end or so for Klopp and co to begin ‘benching’ him for the big games. Here’s a You Tube taster of our new (unheralded) LB:
https://youtu.be/rwmjyDl34b0
Vorsprung Klopp Technik!!!
Peter
Why not De Sciglio? Not a brilliant attacker but consistent, can defend and can cover both sides. Am I missing something?
Sam Hart may be in Klopp’s thoughts as well. Got on for a bit against Mainz. Nearly 20, you’d think he’d be offloaded by now if he wasn’t rated.
Klopp may have won 2 Bundesliga titles and narrowly lost a Champions League final, but the LFC family’s legion of keyboard warriors have extensive experience of Football Manager and FIFA 2016. He really needs to stop trusting his instincts and years of experience and listen to them instead!!!
There’s always the chance that Klavan could step into the left back role temporarily if Ilori shows promise as CB on his return from the Olympics. It would then allow for Gomez to return from injury and also make a claim for the LB role. When Matip & Sakho are back to full fitness we’ll have plenty of cover in the centre of defence to allow the LB position to be rotated between Moreno/Milner/Klavan/Gomez until a more suitable long term option becomes available. No point wasting money on a player that’s not really wanted. Look what happened with Caulker when he was with us on loan, he was brought on as a striker. Klopp need to find his own players for exact positions and shouldn’t be pushed/rushed into it.
I appreciate where you’ve gone with this Neil. But I don’t think you’ve actually gone far enough. You stated early in the article that:
“Jürgen Klopp may well like Alberto Moreno. He is working with him every day. He may well feel he has room to develop and qualities he wants in his first-choice left back.”
Probably this! Closest thing to the reality might well be that Klopp actually rates Alberto Moreno.
If you consider what he is good at, Moreno being Klopp’s man isn’t all that far fetched. Even his critics would likely concede that Moreno has very high fitness levels and is rarely injured, is pacy, powerful, a willing wide runner in the attack, technically able and is capable of both good delivery and making important challenges. All are traits that seem ideal for the demands of the role Klopp has historically given his full backs. Perhaps also importantly, Moreno seems to have a great relationship and understanding with key (shoe-in) Liverpool payers – Coutinho, Firmino, Can, Sakho to name a few.
The obvious negatives are those occasions where Moreno makes rash and daft decisions (e.g the challenge for Walcott’s penalty on Sunday) and times where he loses concentration. Klopp may well feel these are areas of a player’s game that he is able to improve with coaching, especially with players yet to reach their mid-twenties. ‘Poor positioning’ is an often stated criticism, but this disregards the physical reality of Klopp’s demands for his full backs to push on as wide support. A player can’t be both offering a wide run when Liverpool are on a quick break and simultaneously sat on the corner of his own box in case of a turnover of the ball.
As you conclude, Alberto Moreno being our senior left back is “not something that has happened by accident.” Nothing Klopp has said or the teams he’s put out suggest other than Klopp likes him, wants to work with him and will continue to play him.
I think you’ve got it covered Chris.
Whatever Moreno’s faults and I’m sure they are multiple, Klopp clearly wants a player with Moreno’s positive attributes and clearly wants him bombing on, despite the the space it might offer up behind him.
If Moreno was always out of position, Klopp would be on his feet constantly shouting at him to hold his position. He doesn’t because Moreno is mostly doing what is expected of him in this respect.
Fans might want a steady solid player at left back, Klopp clearly doesn’t. At some point he might enter the market for another left back, but I don’t expect it to be to bring in a solid defensive type.
Had Moreno not conceded the penalty earlier so gratuitously, so recklessly, he wouldn’t have had all this **completely undeserved** criticism heaved at him for Arsenal’s first goal.
He was the one who regained possession to begin with, by blocking Bellerin’s (who was being tracked by Wijnaldum) pass to Walcott. After the ball ended up at Coutinho’s feet, Coutinho smartly passed it to Lallana. Lallana had plenty of time to execute a simple, straight-forward direct forward pass to Mane’ who was getting ready to burn the two Arsenal defenders nearest him for pace, with even a half-decent mid-range pass by Lallana. Instead, Lallana decided (as usual) to do just one **more** Cruyff-turn and he was dispossessed by Coquelin.
Arsenal had Iwobi, Sanchez, Ramsey and Walcott around our 18-yard box. Ball came to Iwobi after Coquelin’s tackle.
Liverpool had Clyne, Lovren, Henderson and Klavan at or near the 18-yard line. Centrally, Wijnaldum was closest to Iwobe from our central midfielders. At the time Lallana was dispossessed, he was at the same level as Moreno.
Both Sanchez and Ramsey made dummy-runs behind the LFC players nearest them. Walcott was at least two-three yards offside and inside our box still when Iwobe first got possession. Lovren did not retreat much, and tried to stay ‘between’ Iwobe and Sanchez. Henderson, who was a ‘late’ arrival up to our line, actually stepped up to Lovren’s level thereby (he thought, as is clearly indicated by his raising his arm feverishly) rendering Sanchez, Ramsey and (definitely) Walcott offside. Unfortunately, Klavan had other ideas.
Instead of stepping up to the level of Henderson and Lovren, he swallowed Ramsey’s dummy-run hook, line and sinker and ‘tracked’ him for about 5 yards into our box. Iwobe dribbled somewhat slowly diagonally, waiting for Walcott to retreat enough to no longer be offside. His job was made easier by Klavan.
By this time, Moreno has cottoned on to the danger (Wijnaldum did not) and began a rapid jog back which switched to a sprint as soon as the pass to Walcott was released by Iwobe.
By the time Walcott (who had to retreat, remember) got possession of the ball and began his forward move, Klavan had realized he’d be had and had turned rightward and toward Walcott. He ended up being the 2nd line of defense vs Walcott’s shot. The first line of defense was . . . yes, Moreno, who managed to get within half-a-foot or so of blocking Walcott’s shot. The ball then went under Klavan’s outstretched left leg, and about two feet to the right of Mignolet who basically failed to make even a half-decent attempt at actually saving the shot. The ball ended up on the right side-netting of Mignolet’s goal, very close to its right post.
Culpability for the goal goes as follows:
1. Lallana
2. Klavan
3. Mignolet
Moreno bears zero blame for Arsenal’s 1st goal.
Yes, he’s often brainless, his defending and tackling techniques are “unique”(ly poor), his actual positioning (properly considered, not with 20/20 hindsight and with information that was not available to HIM at the time he acted) is suspect, bordering on the “spatial perception challenged”.
Still, he was not at fault for Arsenal’s 1st goal.
For slow-motion video, from different angles, of that goal, please see:
https://twitter.com/GrkStav/status/764854354733957120
https://twitter.com/GrkStav/status/764909997796970497
https://twitter.com/GrkStav/status/765685856317247489
For stills and screenshots, see my TL (@GrkStav)
Excellent analysis GyrkStv- incredible minutiae there and you could be 100% right.
One thing though was Moreno had put himself level or just ahead of the ball line when Lallana gets it and seeing the AL error- didn’t have the cop to retreat immediately. By the time the ball is eventually heading for Walcott- he’s only realising the dangerous exposure he’s caused that magnifies the errors with others then covering his AWOL positioning and impetuousness. And that where the fault lies- he went early and didn’t come back at the first sign of danger (silly boy!). A simple backtrack and all areas and players wouldn’t have been exposed and open to fault. Agree?..
I reckon he’s done a ‘Skyrtel vs. Southampton’ job on himself and can say goodbye to that spot forever- though stay on as a Winger or Wing-Back as he has all the attributes and cohesion with others in that role.
Anyway- did you check out Juanma Garcia on YouTube yet?
He could be the one to be moulded. Milner, Gomez, and Klaven if need be, will fill-in in the meanwhile because smart Flying LBs are rare. Maybe they’re not born, maybe they’re made.
Here’s the link again:
https://youtu.be/rwmjyDl34b0
Peter
Excellent analysis, must have re watched the match many times?
The only point is, as Peter pointed out above, Moreno could have sensed the danger earlier and rush back to his defensive position.
Nice analysis. This is the key quote, however
“…and began a rapid jog back which switched to a sprint as soon as the pass to Walcott was released by Iwobe.”
How often I’ve seen this ‘jog’. The lad thinks he’s Usain Bolt and can get back much quicker than the reality.
If you’re into watching replays closely, please reference his defending v Villareal in the quarter final at their gaffe in the last minute when we’re defending 0-0, from being caught near their area, to being only a few yards away from Lopez as he scores: if he hadn’t jogged a lot of that way back, and sprinted instead, he’s likely to have stopped the goal, or at least got in front of Lopez.
And don’t get me started on the Europa league final.
And that hair. Can’t wait for this guy to leave us.
I think moreno needs to be replaced. His tacklings are very clumsy. And he is not all that good upfront. He cost Liverpool against sevilla. His mistakes could have cost us against Arsenal