For all the talk about Liverpool's impending midfield rebuild this summer, it is becoming increasingly clear they need to strengthen their backline, too.
Defensive errors heavily contributed to Tuesday night's chastening Champions League thrashing at the hands of Real Madrid. “I think we gave all five goals away and that means we could have done better,” admitted Jurgen Klopp.
The sight of Liverpool capitulating wasn't a one-off. Alarmingly, it was the eighth time in all competitions this season they have conceded three times or more.
Klopp's men have played 35 matches so far in this campaign and conceded 47 goals (1.34 per game). At the same stage in 2021-22, they had shipped just 30 goals (0.86 per game) and had conceded three or more on just three occasions.
Real Madrid had just six shots on target at Anfield but scored five times. The European champions ruthlessly laid bare how Liverpool have become a soft touch.
Much of the focus has been on the lack of protection from midfield and Liverpool certainly aren't capable of controlling games like they used to.
But how did it get this bad at the back?
Being too passive
Klopp knew what the problem was.
“We became a bit passive slightly higher up the pitch,” he said when reflecting on Vinicius Junior's first goal for Real Madrid on Tuesday. “We were not chasing them and we had to chase them because this is a team, when you get passive you get punished. And we realised in that moment.”
At the elite level, you cannot give opponents a second. And Liverpool's error in not closing the ball high up the field was compounded by their defenders, and Joe Gomez in particular, giving Vinicius Jr the time and space to curl a shot into the far corner and breathe life into Real Madrid's fightback.
It is not just against world-class teams where this has been a problem for Klopp's side. Their passive defending has become a concerningly regular issue.
Virgil van Dijk has always been seen as a passive defender, jockeying and marshalling attackers to come out on top rather than attempting numerous tackles, but when the rest of the defence is, too, and you no longer have the midfield reliability in front of you, it becomes too easy for opponents to create big chances through smart, swift interplay.
Take the goals Liverpool conceded to Crystal Palace and Manchester United (the first goal) in their second and third Premier League games this season. Van Dijk did not close Wilfried Zaha or Jadon Sancho down quickly enough for either of the goals, allowing both to get their shots away. It is an issue that has continued (among the whole defence) all season.
And since the turn of the year, it is noticeable how many of the goals Liverpool have conceded have been deflected. The latest came via Gomez against Real Madrid, but the list also includes Ibrahima Konate (v Brentford) and Joel Matip (v Wolves) in the Premier League. In the FA Cup, there was the goal Lewis Dunk scored for Brighton and also Hwang Hee-chan's rebounded goal for Wolves.
This isn't down to bad luck, it is the by-product of being reactive rather than proactive and in trying to recover, things get worse.
The team has been passive across the pitch — from the pressing problems (which includes the forward line) to the lack of energy in midfield and, crucially, when Liverpool's defenders are being asked to defend, too often it is laced with hesitancy.
In and around their own box, the aggression has disappeared in both open play and when defending set pieces. It is therefore no surprise that opponents are finding it easy to score goals.
The right side
Under Klopp, Liverpool's right side of defence has always been the area sides have targeted, essentially to avoid confronting Van Dijk and to exploit the space left vacant by Trent Alexander-Arnold's ventures forward.
However, in previous seasons, the possibility of being exposed has been a risk Liverpool have been prepared to take given the right-back's contributions going forward and the stability provided by the covering midfielders and the defence.
And this area of vulnerability, which had been masked in the past, has been further exposed by the constant rotation at right centre-back and the mixed form of Gomez and Matip in particular.
And to make matters worse, when the centre-back pairing are not providing a solid foundation, Alexander-Arnold becomes limited offensively.
Gomez's performance against Real Madrid was his latest disappointing defensive display in recent months. His inconsistent form six months into a new five-year deal is concerning, and he looks nothing like the player who partnered Van Dijk during Liverpool's title-winning season in 2019-20.
Set-piece struggles
Of all the bad goals Liverpool conceded on Tuesday, and there were plenty of them, Real's third, scored by Eder Militao, was especially bizarre.
The team's collective lack of movement and readiness when defending Luka Modric's set piece early in the second half was worrying. Modric's eyes scanned across the box and lit up as Liverpool lined up in single file along the six-yard box.
It left a wide corridor for Modric to play the ball into, but after Militao had broken out of the line to meet the cross at the near post, it was still odd to see no Liverpool player react, which gifted the Brazilian a completely unchallenged header.
Liverpool are waiting in a line with only two Madrid players inside Alisson's six-yard box and just five in total in the box.
In contrast, every single one of Klopp's players is in the box. And despite this, none of them moves as Militao makes his way towards the ball.
Their static reaction gives him a free header to score.
Looking at the goals Liverpool have conceded from set pieces in the league this season, what stands out is their lack of proactivity when defending them.
At Nottingham Forest in October, Steve Cook easily peels away from Fabinho and Morgan Gibbs-White targets him in a well-worked routine.
No Liverpool player follows Cook, who has time to bring the ball down and cross it. Ryan Yates then takes a shot after Van Dijk's unconvincing attempt to cut the ball out.
Yates' shot rebounds off the post into the path of Taiwo Awoniyi, who fires into the roof of the net largely unchallenged by any Liverpool player.
Against Southampton in November, Liverpool made it far too easy for James Ward-Prowse to pick out a team-mate.
As soon as Ward-Prowse is about to hit the ball, his team-mates are on the move. Meanwhile, Liverpool fail to follow them, as though they are intentionally trying to play offside.
It fails spectacularly when Che Adams steals the march on Liverpool's defence and finds himself in plenty of space to head past Alisson.
Brentford, too, caused Liverpool plenty of trouble from set pieces during their 3-1 victory over Klopp's team in January.
They initially overload the six-yard box, which seems to confuse Liverpool. Once the corner is about to be hit, Brentford players then disperse in all directions, leaving Liverpool all over the place.
Four Brentford players push out of the six-yard box, while another four push forward towards the ball coming in. It causes so much distraction that the ball ends up hitting Konate and bouncing off him for an own goal.
Alisson is carrying the defence – but even he is fallible
While Liverpool's defence has toiled this season, Alisson has been overperforming.
The numbers confirm as much. John Harrison, the head of data science at goalkeeper.com, whose model takes into account every action a goalkeeper does or could do (analysing every shot, cross, through ball and distribution), has calculated that the Brazilian has conceded nine league goals fewer than an “average” goalkeeper would have when faced with the same chances.
“He is the only goalkeeper in the league who ranks as above average in all aspects of goalkeeping — shot stopping, one-v-one stopping, shot handling, cross claiming, through ball sweeping and distribution,” Harrison explains. “So while Liverpool's defensive record has been poor this season, it is certainly not down to Alisson — at least in the league.”
Alisson leads the way in the number of big chances saved (26) in the Premier League this campaign:
PlayerBig Chances SavedAlisson26Bernd Leno25Illan Meslier23Vicente Guaita16David Raya14
But the volume of shots on target he has faced has steadily risen, proving he is being more exposed by his team-mates. Last season he faced 100 shots on target and boasted a save percentage of 76 per cent. This season he has already faced 100 shots on target and his save percentage has dropped to 72 per cent.
Alisson has made 73 saves in the league already, three more and he will equal his tally for the previous campaign in its entirety.
Alisson has been Liverpool's player of the season, but even he has been susceptible to errors in recent weeks. In the FA Cup against Wolves at Anfield, a misjudged pass allowed Goncalo Guedes to score; then, against Real Madrid, he dawdled in possession, kicked the ball against Vinicius Jr and watched the ball loop into an unguarded net.
The Vinicius Jr goal was the obvious error on Tuesday, but not the only one. For Madrid's fifth goal, scored by Karim Benzema, the way in which Alisson rushed out towards the striker raised the probability of Liverpool conceding from 36 per cent to 62 per cent, according to Harrison.
“It isn't really a mistake,” he argues. “Alisson just made the finish far easier for Benzema. I highlighted it as it is something Alisson rarely does.”
Harrison thinks Alisson's decision to rush at Benzema was more down to frustration, partly because of his earlier mistake but also due to Liverpool's static defending.
“This Liverpool defence has let him down time and time again this season. The fact he was man of the match against 10-man Newcastle sort of sums the situation up,” Harrison adds. “For me, the biggest issue for a goalkeeper playing behind a passive or weak defence is that you can end up feeling (like) you always need to do something. That can lead to rushing out for crosses you cannot reach or rushing out for one-v-ones too early and giving away goals. Alisson has generally stayed calm but the last Madrid goal did show the first signs of this.”
Konate's absence
Konate is on the comeback trail following a hamstring problem and his return can't come soon enough.
The France international has proved a big hit at Anfield since his £36million ($43m) move from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2021. He grew in stature during his debut season and deservedly climbed above Matip and Gomez in the pecking order to partner Van Dijk in both the FA Cup and Champions League finals last May.
However, this season he has been dogged by injuries and his absence has been keenly felt.
He limped out of the final pre-season friendly against Strasbourg at Anfield in July and then broke down again shortly after making his return to action in October. Last month, he damaged his hamstring in the FA Cup defeat by Brighton and has missed the past four matches.
Konate (left) and Van Dijk have only started four games together this season (Photo: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Konate has only made nine starts for Liverpool in all competitions this season and just four of them have been alongside Van Dijk — the 7-1 thrashing of Rangers, the 2-0 home win over Napoli, the 2-1 victory at Tottenham and the 3-1 loss at Brentford, when the talismanic Dutchman was forced off at half-time due to a hamstring injury of his own.
The 23-year-old, who helped France reach the World Cup final in Qatar, offers the kind of overall package you don't get with either Matip or Gomez. He has pace in abundance and is also strong and powerful, meaning there is no chance of bullying him. He also reads the game well and is a good communicator. He is a major asset at both ends with his aerial prowess.
Liverpool need him back alongside Van Dijk.