Klopp’s too clever to admit he needs to sign a defender... but he NEEDS to sign a defender
JURGEN KLOPP has to go into the transfer market in January… but I would never expect him to admit that.
I can tell you now, Michael Edwards and all the impressive staff they have there in the analytics department at Anfield will be scouring the planet to try and identify at least one defender in the window.
In fact, the truth is that they will already have a list of players.
It would be madness not to.
There is no way Liverpool would go into a season with only one fit centreback for the next five months, so there is no way they can do that in January.
The way these things now work, the department that identifies players will have a long list of defenders they have analysed and they will have identified those players who match the playing style and the manager’s demands.
Klopp will have looked at that list, given his input and the question of the names he had settled on will be: “Is that player available and can we afford him?”
Value is a relative term, though What may be overpriced in the summer when you have numbers, can be a bargain in January when you are desperate.
The bottom line is that they need a top-class centre-back. Maybe even two.
Joel Matip has started only four league games in a year and you know he cannot play two games a week between now and May. And the other three centre-backs are inexperienced.
I’m not having a go at any of them – far from it. There looks like some real talent in the three defenders who have played in the absence of Van Dijk and Gomez, but the harsh reality is that they will inevitably be inconsistent.
That is a given for a teenage centre-back.
And the one thing Liverpool cannot afford next year in inconsistency.
They will be in the title race, up against a fantastic Manchester City side and they will be in the knockout stages of the Champions League, where they will face the best teams in Europe.
They need the best players for that and, with all respect to Nat Phillips, Rhys Williams and Billy Koumetio, they are not consistently at that level yet.
Klopp needs all three of them, though, which is why he will not come out and say he is signing a defender in January.
He has to build them up, make them believe they are at that level… and try to get to them a consistent standard that will keep Liverpool in the race.
It is a chance as well. These injury crises are always a nightmare for clubs, but I can guarantee that the young players don’t see it like that – they see an opportunity.
I look back on my own time at Liverpool and Michael Owen took his
THERE has to be an urgency in looking at the factors within football that contribute to brain damage among footballers.
We must ensure the health and welfare of players is the uppermost priority, ahead of everything else. I welcome the research the PFA is backing, but there has to be more – much more.
It is time for the governing bodies to get together and decide on a clear plan and a clear pathway. They need to minimise the risk of head injury in the game and they also need to recognise that past players have been exposed to unnecessary risk.
Only when they do that, can the sport move forward as a safe and protected environment for young people to enjoy.
And that has to be the most important aim of all. chance spectacularly when I was out. I missed the last three games of the 96-97 season and he grabbed his moment with both hands.
The next season I was injured and missed the last three months. Michael banged in the goals, got an England call-up and went to the World Cup.
That’s the way it goes in football. It’s always an opportunity and, if you are good enough, you take it.
What Klopp will be hoping for now is that one of those young kids steps up and shows he has the class to play for Liverpool long term.
Then he can sign an experienced centre-back in January, knowing he has back-up for the following five months. This is a critical time.
Leicester at home and another 10 games before January.
They could lose everything in that period – so they need someone to step up and grab that chance.