Centre-back partnerships can offer sublime foundations and turn teams into serial winners. Alessandro Costacurta and Franco Baresi jump to the front of that formidable list, as a partnership that allowed the rest of the side to dominate literally everyone.
In the modern game (especially within the Premier League), the ferocity of play and sheer culmination...
Under the Roy Evans regime, Neil Ruddock, John Scales, Phil Babb & Mark Wright were the options in defence. They were the central defenders in the mid nineties that saw a period of great attacking football from the reds. The likes of Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman were part of an exciting line up...
Earlier on in pre-season, Liverpool journalists claimed Ibrahima Konate was likely going to start the season alongside Joel Matip in defence. It was something of a surprise to see Virgil van Dijk named alongside the former Schalke man in the starting XI against Norwich City on Saturday.
He'd come through the friendlies unscathed but it...
If you're expecting a memorable summer in the transfer market at Liverpool, you're in for a horrible shock.
Unfortunately, this isn't FIFA or Football Manager, so the Reds won't be splashing an endless stream of cash, as Jurgen Klopp's men look to bounce back from this most dispiriting of seasons.
Given the impact that COVID-19 has...
When Liverpool paid a club-record £75million to bring Virgil van Dijk to Anfield, they hadn’t conceded fewer than 40 Premier League goals in a single season since 2009/10. On a couple of occasions, they’d even conceded 50.Â
To challenge for a place in the top four, teams generally had to finish with a goal difference...
With so many defensive injuries, Liverpool's season has really suffered.
It'll take no level of footballing comprehension to know that without Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, and Joel Matip for most of the season the Reds have suffered in a defensive sense.
But so many absences in their back-line has hurt the Anfield club elsewhere.
Trent Alexander...
Joe Gomez has now been a Liverpool player for almost six years, which doesn't seem possible.
In fact, he is now the fourth-longest-serving player at Anfield, behind Jordan Henderson, Divock Origi and James Milner, yet is still only 23 years of age.
Gomez's Liverpool career has been a curious one, with endless moments of promise, exceptional...
Virgil, Joe Gomez & Joel Matip represent a core defensive unit of players that have for the most part been unavailable this season. The ramifications of not signing a Dejan Lovren replacement, in the form of Wesley Fofana or an earlier acquisition of Kabak to add required depth now looks foolish. The system, the...
Excuse:
a reason or explanation given to justify a fault or offence.
For some bizarre reason, excuses are viewed as negatives these days. I don’t quite understand why given, per the definition, it is a justification as to why something has happened. Obviously, these truths can be embellished and this might why people seem to...
Liverpool's defensive injury crisis has hindered them in so many ways this season.
Losing Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, and Joel Matip has obviously hamstrung the defending champions in defence, not that you would necessarily know it from the goals conceded column.
The break glass in case of emergency defenders -- Fabinho and Jordan Henderson --...
