What did Aldridge say?
Speaking to the Sunday World, Aldridge said, “Klopp will be spending this international break pondering how to solve the one big issue in his team.”
“The opposition has been targeting the right side of Liverpool’s defense and they have been getting too much joy from that tactic.
“AC Milan scored a couple of goals attacking that side of the Liverpool back four and the same happened with Brentford and then Manchester City last weekend.
“James Milner filled in for Trent against Manchester City in the last round of matches and did a decent job, but I wonder whether Klopp needs to look at tweaking his tactics to offer a little more protection on that side.
“This is not a criticism of Trent as he is a fantastic footballer, but maybe Klopp needs to look at the balance in his team to get the defensive side a little more stable.”
Has Aldridge got a point?
Liverpool’s right side has always been a major weakness. Since [player 1917] has played as the right-back after stepping up from the academy, opposition managers have targetted that area. We all know how much [team 8] rely on their fullbacks for creativity. As a result, the space left behind is attacked by various teams. The presence of [player 1743] has minimized this issue for a long time now.
[player 4553] likes Trent to overlap whenever [player 4125] makes an inverted run. As a precaution, he plays [player 323] on the right side of the three who provides cover when Trent commits forward.
This season, with Henderson returning from an injury, there has been more rotation in the midfield. Sometimes it’s Henderson or Milner or [player 850] or [player 4545513]. Like the last few seasons, teams are heavily targeting Liverpool’s right side. However, this season, they are struggling more than before. Against [team 9], [player 336133] was used to penetrating [player 197]’s area as Trent was out for the game.
With club football returning this weekend, Klopp will have to think of a strategy that helps in minimizing the troubles down that side. Maybe, getting Henderson back in his usual midfield position could be a solution and Milner could also do the same. [player 1453] is an excellent defender but when deployed as a fullback, his lack of attacking contribution could create issues.
Klopp must think of a way to find a solution before the reds drop more valuable points due to the same issue.
Author: Devashish Akolekar
