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If Jürgen Klopp’s defensive resources weren’t sufficiently depleted before the international break, the news of Joe Gomez’s knee injury suffered in England has further exacerbated a situation that was almost at crisis level anyway.
Entering the most eventful period of the season with Joel Matip as the only senior center back in good shape is an extremely dangerous situation for Liverpool, and one that means contingency plans will have to be in place. As brilliant as he has been for Liverpool in the past, Matip’s availability cannot be relied upon.
He’s started a grand total of four games for Liverpool in 2020 and you have to go back to September 2019 for the last time Matip made back-to-back starts, so the prospect of him playing from now until the New Year with no interruptions seems highly unlikely ( if not completely inconceivable). The strange thing about Matip is that his injuries are often seem particularly significant at first, but they end up discarding it for several weeks (or months) at a time.
And that’s the concern right now. Currently Matip is set to start against Leicester City at Anfield in the first game after the break, but there is always a concern that he could break again at any moment. The idea of him playing three times a week is impossible, so the best Liverpool can hope for is to micromanage their playing time so that it is available for the biggest league matches until January, which means compromising the rest. Champions League group stage matches (of which Liverpool will probably only need a maximum of one win to secure qualification).
Given that Fabinho’s hamstring injury is not considered “serious”, the ideal scenario is for him to return with Matip shortly after the break and hopefully in time for Leicester. Those two have the makings of a really strong partnership. Yes They both remain fit and available, but again, they won’t be able to play all the games together, and while we don’t even want to contemplate it right now, it’s quite possible that one or both of them could take more hits sometime in the next few weeks.
The obvious ’emergency’ solution, then, is to trust Rhys Williams or Nat Phillips, who have positioned themselves so consummately in recent weeks alongside Gomez. Surely both players will be required between now and January, and the main advantage of picking either of them is that it minimizes disruption to the system as a whole because you don’t end up sacrificing even more stability in midfield by dropping one from Gini. Wijnaldum or Jordan Henderson in the bottom four.
However, it comes at a potential cost, and while Williams and Phillips have done everything that could be asked of them when asked thus far, are still very, very inexperienced at the highest level. As it keeps repeating itself, Williams played football outside the league last season and was not even involved in the Liverpool senior team’s pre-season preparations during the summer. Phillips, meanwhile, was on loan at Bundesliga 2. (helping Stuttgart achieve promotion) and Klopp has openly admitted Liverpool hoped to move him to the Championship in the summer, only no move materialized.
This is not to downplay what both players have to offer and how well they have taken advantage of their opportunities thus far, but it is quite a challenge to go from where they have been in their careers so far, to suddenly playing for the Champions. of the Premier League where the expectation is to win practically every game. It really is a quantum leap, and it would not be reasonable to expect them to be dropped and perform anywhere near the level of Liverpool’s usual senior central defenders on a consistent basis.
However, there is another option than could it will be a possibility for Klopp if things get really bad in the coming weeks. Let’s imagine for a second that it takes Fabinho a little longer than anticipated to recover from the hamstring strain (or it comes back too soon and exacerbates it), and sometime between now and the end of December, Matip takes a hit. of some variety that keeps him out for four or five games. What does Liverpool do then? Play Williams and Phillips together? Wijnaldum or Henderson back?
Maybe. Or slide Andy Robertson to the left back and put Kostas Tsimikas to the left back. Well, that may sound like a far-fetched proposition, and the biggest drawback is what Liverpool would lose without Robertson’s driving races, connecting game and exceptional delivery in the final third. His aerial prowess would naturally also be a concern.
But desperate times call for desperate measures, and there are several reasons why could Be a viable interim solution if more injuries accumulate. Last month, Klopp specifically named the Robertson check as a possible center-back alternative, so it’s clearly something he’s at least thought about to some degree.
Obviously he is very experienced, he reads the game brilliantly, his recovery pace would be very useful, he is excellent in one-on-one situations and his skill with the ball, both in passing and dribbling, is far superior to most of the centrals (it is true that, being very one foot). He’s also done it before on the left side of a back three for Scotland, so it’s not entirely unknown, although doing it in a back four for Liverpool would certainly be a completely new proposition.
At 5-foot-10, height is an issue, but Klopp was right to reference the fact that Javier Mascherano built an enormously successful career as a central defender even though he was only 5’8. The likes of David Alaba (5’11), Joshua Kimmich (5’9) and Cesar Azpilicueta (5’10) have shown in recent years that it is very possible to make a successful transition (even if only temporarily) from full back. to center back no more than 6 feet tall. The smartest and most tactically astute players are capable of adapting their games, and Robertson is definitely one of them.
We have also not seen how effective Tsimikas can be as an attacking outlet for Liverpool so far, and judging by his excellent performances for Olympiacos, he could fulfill a similar role as Robertson on an interim basis if given a series of games, though not at the same world class level.
In truth, events would probably have to take several more unwanted turns before we reach a point where Robertson playing central defender becomes a legitimate possibility, but given the severity of Liverpool’s misfortune of late, it cannot be ruled out. . It’s a glass-breaking solution that Klopp won’t want to use unless absolutely necessary, but that may offer some kind of a path toward the January transfer window if the worst turns out to be worse between now and then.
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