Liverpool’s defensive situation is only getting worse by the minute. First, Arne Slot was handed a setback against Southampton as Giovanni Leoni ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
The Italian was performing his debut but couldn’t sustain enough to finish it. Now, the teenage centre-back faces a long recovery road ahead as he’ll be away for a year from competitive football.
Having already gone down to three centre-backs, Slot wasn’t hoping to face more problems. However, fate had a different plan, and Ibrahima Konate went down against Chelsea.
Initially, the injury was deemed minor, and Konate managed to join the French national team on duty. Things took a turn for the worse, though, as he withdrew from the international break due to his quadriceps (thigh) injury.
The wings have also received much criticism under Slot, as full-back Milos Kerkez was also pulled into the whirlpool of the depth crisis.
Liverpool player preferred over Kerkez
Andy Robertson is a better choice than Milos Kerkez, believes Alan Pardew (Credits: Imago Images)
Former Liverpool manager Alan Pardew talked about the Reds’ defensive instability. The Englishman claimed that Kerkez had to play a part in the crisis as he hailed Andy Robertson as a better alternative.
“They haven’t really played one great game, I don’t think. He has made a lot of changes. They have got talent in and around the team. It is going to be a question mark getting the balance right.”
“I think changing the two full-backs – Andy Robertson has been absolutely brilliant this week for Scotland – has been an issue. I think they’ve not looked as good at the back”, the manager told talkSPORT.
Slot is stuck in a difficult situation, as with only two centre-backs fully available, the Dutchman has to be careful with his selection.
The failure to sign Marc Guehi might still be occupying the manager’s mind, as the Palace captain would’ve solved multiple problems at Anfield.
Quiz: Can you name the team Liverpool signed these players from?
Andy Robertson vs Milos Kerkez
Despite the criticism, Milos Kerkez has started all the English Premier League matches over Andy Robertson. Consequently, the latter has managed more tackles than Robertson.
Despite more than a four-game match time gap between the players, the Scottish full-back comes very close in terms of the percentage of dribblers tackled.
Kerkez stands at 57.1% while Robertson has successfully tackled 50% of the dribblers he’s faced. This is a very telling statistic, as this shows the defensive stability that Robertson can maintain in Slot’s XI.
