Liverpool's Defensive Crisis Ahead of Premier League Season
Andoni Iraola will take Liverpool into the new Premier League season with one glaring concern: they are walking into St James’ Park next weekend with their defence held together by tape and hope.
Centre-back crisis bites
At the heart of it all is a central defensive unit stripped to the bone. Three injury issues have left Virgil van Dijk as the only fully fit senior centre-back available. For a side with title ambitions, that is a brutal starting point.
New £60million signing Jacquet was supposed to ease that burden. Instead, his Liverpool career has stuttered before it has really begun. An unspecified problem kept him out of the recent 3-2 defeat to Monaco, adding to worries after his final season at Rennes was cut short by a shoulder injury.
He has not featured at all in pre-season. Until now.
Jacquet is at least back in full training and thrown straight into the starting XI against Como, a calculated risk from Iraola, who knows he cannot afford to wrap his new defender in cotton wool for much longer.
The club have moved to protect themselves. Ronald Araujo has arrived on loan from Barcelona, a significant piece of business and a clear sign of how seriously Liverpool view the situation. The Uruguay international only makes the bench this evening, but his presence alone hints at the changing hierarchy in that back line once he reaches full sharpness.
Injuries and exits reshape the back line
The problems do not stop there. Giovanni Leoni is still working his way back from the ACL injury that wrecked his debut a year ago. Joe Gomez, meanwhile, suffered yet another setback, limping off with a muscle injury in the 4-2 win over Sunderland in the USA last month, replaced by youngster Ifeanyi Ndukwe. That blow is expected to derail his start to the campaign.
On top of the injuries, Iraola has had to absorb a major departure. Ibrahima Konate walked away on a free transfer at the end of his contract and has since joined Real Madrid. One of Liverpool’s key defensive pillars is gone, and the timing could hardly be worse.
The result is a back line being rebuilt on the fly, days before the real stuff starts.
Midfield knocks and selection puzzles
The issues are not confined to defence. Curtis Jones has been nursing a hip problem while his name continues to swirl around transfer discussions with Inter Milan. The midfielder missed the Monaco defeat, returned to training this week, but is again absent from the squad here. For Iraola, that is another experienced option unavailable as he tries to shape his first-choice XI.
There is at least some positive news. Victor Munoz and Alexis Mac Allister are back from their post-World Cup breaks. Both were eased in with Liverpool’s second string during a behind-closed-doors friendly against Como on Sunday, a 70-minute run-out at the training ground that finished goalless.
Munoz has done enough to make the bench for the second meeting with the Italian side at Anfield and will be hoping for more than a cameo this time. Those minutes matter now. Every touch, every sprint, every duel is part of Iraola’s scramble to get his squad ready in time.
Liverpool head to Newcastle with Van Dijk carrying the defence, a new £60m signing still feeling his way back, a marquee loan on standby, and a bench dotted with players either returning from breaks or battling their way back from injury.
For a manager who likes control and structure, this is a chaotic opening hand. How long can they bluff their way through it?
