Liverpool’s investment in defence paying dividends

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have their own vision of perfection.

Tottenham’s Moussa Sissoko of Tottenham Hotspur shoots wide under pressure from Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk at Anfield. Picture: Getty Images

Liverpool have their own vision of perfection. The move starts in defence with Trent Alexander-Arnold surging forward down the right, swapping passes and delivering a cross that his fellow full back Andrew Robertson dispatches at the far post.

“Our dream team goal” is how the Liverpool assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders has described it and, while victory was the priority away to Southampton overnight (AEDT), the search for fantasy continues. The gaze may be drawn to the return of Virgil van Dijk, the world’s most expensive defender, to his former club, but it would be perilous for the home team to look away from the threat on the flanks.

That ultimate goal in combination play has so far proved beyond Alexander-Arnold, 20, and Robertson, 25. Their attacking flair is demonstrated instead by the glut of assists — six and nine respectively — which strengthens the view that Liverpool’s push for the title is being underpinned by their defenders. They are stingy at one end, and sprinkle stardust at the other.

It is a source of satisfaction for Jurgen Klopp, the manager, and those behind the scenes at Anfield that while Van Dijk became the record signing when he moved from St Mary’s in January last year for £70 million ($128m), the players on either side of him have been sourced from very different areas.

Alexander-Arnold is a homegrown talent, whose boyhood wishes have become a reality, Robertson was an £8m gamble who has developed into one of Europe’s best left backs.

Joel Matip, 27, is the free transfer plucked from Schalke, in the Bundesliga, who is enjoying his best run of consecutive starts (12) in the first team, while Joe Gomez, 21, pushing to return after injury, was cherrypicked as a teenager from Charlton Athletic for £3.5m after clever scouting.

“Having different characters always helps,” Klopp said. He also has Dejan Lovren, 29, a marquee signing under the previous regime, at his disposal. “If you are all mainstream, all the same way, that is difficult.

“It is not important how much you cost or how big the price was. Virgil came here and it was a big step for him. He knew he could improve, he wants to improve. He was at Celtic and could win titles, but this is the first club where [he could do that in an elite league]. He sees his future here now, so let’s try everything possible to be successful.

“It was exactly the same for Robbo. It is not important if you are £7 million, £8 million or £10 million. Joel was the same and he was on a free transfer. Trent dreamt of nothing else since he was born than of being involved in something like this. In England, it is probably not the most expensive defence in the world but it is a proper one. A really proper one. That is all that counts.”

So, too, does the fact that this is a back line with an average age of 25, which suggests that it can form the bedrock of Liverpool’s hopes for years to come.

“I hope you can still find these sorts of transfers,” Klopp said. “But the best way would be that we don’t have to do a lot of them because the age group of the players is brilliant. They have a long career ahead, which is cool. How it looks at the moment is that they want to spend the majority of their careers here, which is cool as well.”

Klopp said previously that there were not “500 clubs asking” about Robertson due to concerns over his defending. However, by unlocking his full attacking potential and combining it with the talent of Alexander-Arnold, Klopp has found his way around a supposed lack of creativity in midfield.

The stability provided in midfield by the likes of Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum is as valuable when considered next to the ability going forward of Robertson and Alexander-Arnold and the versatility of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.

When Tottenham Hotspur dominated in the second half at Anfield last Sunday, Klopp said that it was partly due to the attacking triumvirate defending in the same way when Spurs switched to four at the back as they had against a five-man rearguard.

“That made the spaces too big for the rest,” said Klopp, who also talked up the impact made by Ralph Hasenhuttl, his opposite number at Southampton, and revealed that they did some of their coaching badges together in Germany.

That Liverpool can return to the top of the Premier League with a win over Southampton — victory also guarantees them a top-four place — illustrates the significance of the mistake made by Hugo Lloris, the Spurs goalkeeper, on Sunday.

It led to Toby Alderweireld’s 90th-minute own goal. Before then, with the score at 1-1, Van Dijk had been superb in combating the visiting team’s counterattack. He denied Moussa Sissoko the chance to pass to Son Heung-min and forced the France midfielder on to his weaker left foot before timing a challenge that led to the midfielder shooting wildly off target.

Klopp was forced to wait for Van Dijk. Southampton stubbornly refused to sell in the summer of 2017, but the decision not to shop elsewhere has been beneficial.

“The one versus two situation, he needed Ali [the goalkeeper Alisson] of course, but he did it himself for what felt like 50 seconds,” Klopp said. “It was how I would expect a defender to defend, not to think about only one player.

“If you cannot be active, you have to give the other player the opportunity to make a mistake. In this moment, he did it perfectly. If a player comes in, you hope he makes the whole team better. That’s how good players are, and he’s obviously a very good player.”

Van Dijk’s presence has reduced the prospect of defensive errors and Liverpool are on course to concede their fewest goals in a season since 1979, when they let in 16. The best since has been the 25 that Rafa Benitez’s side conceded in 2005-06. This season, the goals against stand at 19.

At the same time, Liverpool play with greater risk because their defensive line is higher and they now enjoy more possession. That Klopp feels there is room for development in Van Dijk, 28, will send a shudder through his opponents.

“Yes, he improved us, and I think he has improved since he came here,” he said. “He’s a different player to the one he was at Southampton.

“He was good there, really, really good, but with all the different games he plays now, and being part of the Champions League quarter-final, semi-final, final, all that stuff, that all helps you as a player. And for a centre half he is still young, there is still a lot to come. Hopefully he can stay healthy and everything will be fine.”

THE TIMES