Liverpool were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Leicester, and Jurgen Klopp felt “really sick” about their defending. Was he right to, and is he to blame?
Liverpool are on a bad run, and Jurgen Klopp is starting to take some heat from supporters on social media. In what feel like Groundhog Day performances from their team, Reds fans have seen them repeatedly dominate teams but fail to win recently.
Take their defeat at Leicester in the Carabao Cup. According to the detailed stats, Liverpool amassed 1.54 expected goals against the Foxes, and allowed them a miserly 0.38. Yet the Reds lost 2-0 and exited the competition, leaving Klopp to describe himself as feeling “really sick” about it.
After the game, Klopp said, “as long as we concede goals like we conceded today again, then it is quite difficult. We always have to defend these situations better.”
Liverpool fans could be forgiven for screaming “we know, why don’t you fix it?” in response to the German’s comments. It’s not like this is a recent development.
Liverpool have conceded the second fewest shots in the Premier League so far this season. This suggests they’ve defended well, and prevented their opponents from threatening their goal too often.
The problem is not one of opposition shot quantity, but one of shot quality. Opta classify the best opportunities as “clear-cut chances,” which they define as a “situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score.” Only one team in the division has allowed more clear-cut chances than Liverpool.
12% of shots in the 2017/18 PL are clear-cut chances. Here's the proportion of opposition shots which are CCCs by team. Look away, Jurgen. pic.twitter.com/e9G6c0QhO0
— Andrew Beasley (@BassTunedToRed) September 18, 2017
Having to play over half a match against a rampant Manchester City team clearly impacted these figures. Four of City’s seven shots against 10-man Liverpool were deemed to be clear-cut chances. But even if we exclude that period to be charitable to Klopp, the Reds would still top the above table.
Not only that, but last season they topped that table when looking across England, Spain and Germany. Liverpool have also made the most Opta-defined errors leading to shots in the Premier League across the previous five seasons. It’s a real mess back there, and it shows no signs of abating.
Next: This Week in Stats: Burnley frustrate Liverpool yet again
Who is to blame?
Once players take to the field, their performance is largely in their own hands. Jürgen Klopp can’t be blamed every time one of his players makes a mistake which leads to a good chance for the opposition.
Where he can be questioned is with regards to his transfer policy. Virgil van Dijk was identified by Liverpool as the man to improve their defence. No fans had issues with that idea, and the player handed in a transfer request to make the move happen.
But it didn’t, and the Reds didn’t bring in another center-back either. On one hand, Klopp should be admired for sticking to his principles; he believes there are no other defenders out there who are better than his current crop. For the Liverpool manager, it was van Dijk or nobody.
Or should that be “van Dijk or bust,” as that’s how it feels to Kopites at the moment. Reds fans have seen the likes of Dejan Lovren struggle at the club for years now.
Then again, perhaps Klopp is right to rate his defenders highly. Liverpool only lost once last season when Lovren started alongside Joel Matip, and their record is three wins and two draws from their five matches together this season. Prior to the recent mauling at City, the Reds had amassed seven clean sheets from their previous nine matches. Perhaps things aren’t so bad after all?
An open team is also the price Liverpool fans have to pay for their team being so good going forward. Former Anfield head honcho Rafa Benitez describes it as the “the theory of the short blanket.” It’s nigh on impossible to cover the whole pitch well, so you usually have to focus on defense or attack, not both. Klopp has opted for the latter, and it makes for entertaining matches.
If Klopp does feel sick at Liverpool’s defending, then ultimately he may have to get used to feeling unwell. They’ve been an error-prone team for many years, and unless van Dijk can be signed in January, that looks set to continue for some time yet.