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| Defensive errors were on full display for the Reds, although going on to win 6 – 3. GETTY IMAGES |
The defensive errors and lapses were highlighted in Liverpool’s 6 – 3 victory over Welsh side Cardiff at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick, Martin Skrtel contributed a quick double and Daniel Sturridge added another as the Reds maintained their undefeated record in the New Year and continued with a full head of momentum going forward.
While optimism was sky-high for the club following their victory, when they went 2 – 1 down after Fraizer Campbell – defense was once again criticized. Liverpool tend to concede against the smaller clubs and this is a reason that needs to be addressed if they want to go on and win the title.
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| Fraizer Campbell scores the second for the hosts. FRED SPORTS |
Defensive lapses were on display for this goal, Liverpool’s defending was lacklustre and allowed Campbell to get through for a shot on goal.
John Flanagan has allowed Fraizer Campbell to get behind him. Flanagan seems to be jogging back now rather than sprinting to help out. As a result, Daniel Agger is occupied with Campbell now, leaving a huge void in the box. The two centre backs are aligned well here though.
Daniel Agger is forced into a one-on-one situation with Fraizer Campbell. The Dane does well to get goal side of him, but since the box was not full of other players getting back in that area he had enough space to cut into the left and get a shot of goal. All this had been created by Flanagan allowing Campbell to get past him meaning he was out of the equation and therefore, with less defenders ready to box out, Campbell could get a shot off with plenty of time.
Fraizer Campbell unsurprisingly cuts in, Agger now trails him and Mignolet is drawn in. This forces Martin Skrtel to run across to with an attempted block, but opened up another, if not easier, option to pass across to his teammate who was half-occupied by the other full-back. Since Mignolet is drawn in, Campbell can fire towards the far post, and Skrtel could have got their quicker to block.
John Flanagan doesn’t even try to close down the space in order to aid the defenders. Meanwhile it is a complete mess in front of goal as Mignolet tries to space out but cannot, Agger and Skrtel have attempts in vein to block the shot and Johnson pulls off in an attempted block – all unsuccessful. It should simply have not happened as Campbell was outnumbered, an organized mess of a defense.
As a result of the rather shambolic defending, Campbell had two options, fire it at goal through an easy gap from failed blocking, or square it across to the now unmarked player – the same player of who was marked by Skrtel before he ran towards Campbell, and Johnson was marking him before he ran to goal. It could have been easier to square it across, but if that player was open then surely Liverpool should have done enough to facilitate for the unorganized defending.
The goal they conceded brought about much criticism to their defenders, and that is what make them equal with Tottenham for most goals against in the top seven teams in the league. Had it not been for their potent attack, Liverpool would have, no doubt, dropped points at Cardiff.
For Liverpool, their defending is the weak link. Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and others make them one of the most dangerous teams in the league and that is why they have scored the most in the league this season, helping to eclipse a comfortable goal difference that will be significant as the season winds down.
When they come to play Chelsea and Manchester City in back-to-back weeks at Anfield, their defense must stand firm. They know all to well that they can beat City or Chelsea’s defence, but both of those teams have a strong attacking output of their own – making their defending mishaps all the more in need of improvement.
And they also need to be aware that despite how prominent they have been all season, the likelihood is that Liverpool’s attack will be prone to off days here and there, meaning that if their defense does not hold up, they shall drop points – possibly crippling in such a close title race.
An example of when they did drop points was against West Bromwich Albion, their last draw before a six-game win streak. Kolo Toure’s error lead to an easy one-on-one finish as West Brom picked up a deserved point. A similar situation occurred prior, although it was just passed straight outside of the box, and it was blasted over the bar.
A sloppy mistake from Kolo Toure lead to an easy slotted goal past Mignolet. Dreadful stuff, and if that happens later on in the season it could be costly. Mistakes come at a price, of which will be multiplied as the title race intensifies.
Another demonstration of this was the thrilling encounter with Swansea City, where Daniel Sturridge’s brilliance paved the way to a 4 – 3 win. However, once again Liverpool made it a much harder task for themselves with poor defending to concede three goals from the Swans.
They also left it late against Fulham. For some reason it always seems like the games with the smaller clubs tend to be the more noteworthy, dramatic and teach the club more lessons.
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Liverpool have came agonizingly close already to knowing that defensive mistakes cost. They won’t want another reminder coming in failure to win the league.
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