1. They sold Wimmer, their only other CB. Did you expect them to go into the season with only Alderweireld, Vertonghen and Dier while most of the time playing a system with three CB's? And can you tell me how Sanchez has looked so far? To me he has looked pretty shakey and is lucky to be playing in the middle of the three CB's where teams can't isolate him like we do to all the CB's who play in a back three. (Bayern, Hoffenheim, Arsenal, City). We always identify the weak link in the back three, put Salah and Mane on them and made them look sh*t. Sanchez would be that weak link. Alderweireld and Vertonghen are top CB's though and I'd have them here in a heartbeat.
a) Wimmer started 4 games in the league, one as a sub and they have replaced him with someone that has now started 5 league games. The former was never a key player, but has been replaced by Sanchez and they also brought in a young Argentine defender called Juan Foyth. Sanchez may not be playing that well at the moment, but that is expected seeing that he is coming from a lesser league to one that is more physical and way faster.
b) There is this talk of how we expose a back three with the vaunted attack. Hardly the case. There was a single good chance for Salah against City in an entire half of football, Stones who was their weakest CB was never exposed the entire time the team had 11. Also said this elsewhere (cannot remember if it was in this topic), that Klopp has set the team up to counter, so you rarely get a lot of support. Arsenal were a shambles when they came to Anfield, and that is the lone high point of this season that has seen three wins in ten games.
2. Courtois, Cech and Lloris indeed aren't good with the ball at their feet. Courtois showed us again as such against City where they tried to play out from the back a few times and it went completely wrong, resulting in him hoofing everything up the pitch and constantly losing possession because they didn't have a focal point on the pitch. He's no good as a sweeper keeper either, look at some of the penalties Chelsea have conceded over the years because he's too late, he actually has gotten a red card or two too because of that. Also the complete opposite goalkeeper of what we need, Chelsea sit deep a lot of the time, can't compare it to how we play.
Cech is an other good example, he is nowhere near the goalkeeper he once was and has faced plenty of criticism from analysts and fans because he has become so slow and his kicking is about as bad as Mignolet's.
Lloris is another perfect example you give there and he gets away with so much it's ridiculous. He is one of the worst in the PL with the ball at his feet. Plenty of times they nearly conceded because he fu**ed up trying to play it out from the back or when he's too late to intercept the ball. Just last week against Nicosia again, almost conceded because he fu**ed up yet again and the ball just went past the wrong side of the goalpost for Nicosia. Yet Lloris gets nowhere near the stick some of the other goalkeepers get.
Of course it hasn't stopped their teams playing the football they want. But where did Arsenal end last season? Has Spurs won anything yet with Lloris as their goalkeeper and their magnificent defence?
You are essentially making my point for me. All those goalkeepers are way better than anything this team has had since Pepe Reina was sold, but people will look down at how good they are at keeping the ball out of the net because they are not sweeper keepers.
Ask anyone who does not think that these goalkeepers are what this team needs what options they would love to see plying their trade at Melwood/Anfield. The best option for people like you is to go on with what is around at the team at this moment, achieve the same results, then shoot down every possible player that may improve the team because they may lack something. Not a lot of defenders in this league are as good in possession as Matip, yet there are a lot of defenders that are better than him when it comes to defending. There are not as many midfielders who cover as much distance as someone as Aaron Ramsey, but there are a lot of players who know what positional discipline is, and what it entails to play as a central midfielder.
Not a lot of forwards press as much as Firmino does, yet there are so many who given the minutes he gets will perform better than he does because their worth is measured in goals. Not a lot of CB's slower than Mertesacker, but fewer read the game better than him, and there are a lot who are faster who would struggle playing in a high line.
Having a GK who is quick off the line is a plus, having one who is comfortable with the ball is even better. However, the one thing you want from your goalkeeper is someone who can keep goals out, someone who can command his area and deal with crosses, someone who at the end of the season does not have you saying he cost you goals running into double digits. I also never understand people who demand that a GK must be a sweeper keeper; the ball goes to the CB's/FB's to Henderson/Wijnaldum and then back to the CB's/FB's/GK.
I would always want a defender that is great on the ball, but rather than get one who is great on the ball, give me one who is good on it, can read the game, has minimal mistakes and shelters the GK well. Midfielders who are good on the ball, who can make a forward pass without instead of making the simple passes because they fear that they could lose the ball, tactically astute, and forwards who can score.
Anything outside these is always a bonus.
3. You're just making my points for me. How did Stones look in his first season at City? He was atrocious, even coming from a PL team, needed a year to adapt and he's still a weak link in that City defence. Mustafi isn't that good a CB either, most of the Arsenal fans I know want him gone and Wenger even benched him. The only player in that list that adapted really well is Bailly and he has looked very good I have to admit. I don't agree that Matip has regressed, if anything, he has stagnated in his development due to the players he's playing with. He has got some stick and rightly so, though.
Your entire debate was that money should not be risked on a player coming from another league because it might take them time to adapt......or in some cases they may never adapt. That is crazy i.e. keep it as is instead of risking it because it might not work?
These defenders and goalkeepers that you are keen to put down are having better seasons than anything we have. Stones is having a cracking year, Mustafi has got better and better with each passing game. So does it matter to me that someone might have been sold or is percieved as a weak link? No! What matters is how they are performing. Klopp said that there were not 5 defenders who could improve on what Liverpool has, he has said silly things to protect players that have been disappointing ever since he took over. Does that make them better because he says so?
Would you mind explaining me how a 4th choice CB for Schalke ends up playing about 100 league games and a dozen CL games in his last three seasons?
Matip was always first choice and the only reason he missed games was due to a broken foot and at the end because we had signed him in January on a free after he refused to extend his contract. He was loved by all the Schalke fans. So that's a lie.
Matija Nastasic - Achilles Tendon Rapture that ruled him out of 2015/16 season.
Benedikt Howedes essentially missed most of the 2015/16 season due to an ankle fracture at the start of the season and a muscle fibre injury at the latter part of the season. These two were Schalke's best defenders especially after the arrival of Nastasic the previous January window. With those injuries, Neustadter who mainly played DM and at times at CB started playing CB a lot more often with Matip.
Klavan was indeed a cheap option, but have you actually looked into why Klopp decided to sign him? Klopp has said he had watched and followed him for years in the Bundesliga. Or is it just easy enough putting the 'failure' lable on him after now seeing he has difficulties adapting to the pace of the PL? He was brought in as a 3rd CB behind Matip and Lovren and to cover the period after which Klopp would be able to bring in the CB's he wants. He thought he could do a decent job, turns out that if he has to play multiple games, he can't.
He took a gamble on a player who was nothing special in the Bundesliga, got him for pennies and hoped that it would all work out. Like Matip, who was also nothing special in the Bundesliga, he has struggled.
As you spend time looking at how limited some of the players in other teams are, here are some numbers, 2, 2, 5, 6, 8 (that is the number of goals conceded by City, United, Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal this season). 12 is the number conceded by Liverpool.
City(7/10), United (7/10), Tottenham (6/10), Chelsea (4/10), Arsenal (5/10) essentially have more clean sheets than Liverpool (2/10), but there is something wrong with their defenders and/or goalkeepers despite the fact that they have traditionally conceded less and actually see it as important to invest in starters in defense.
Moreno is a starter because right now he deserves to be a starter. He has improved significantly. Still plenty of room for improvement though. The only reason Robertson isn't getting too many starts is because he's getting used to the tactics and the system as a whole. How many players Klopp has brought in have gone in straight away without having a pre-season?
Each and every one of those top teams employs attacking fullbacks/wingbacks. All of them.
Each and every one of those teams is currently doing a better job pressing opposition teams, and not only that, getting results. You debate as if we are in a vacuum, we have won one in seven, and three wins out of 10 this season and 17 goals conceded in those 10. It makes for grim reading.
Do I think all is lost? No, all it needs is for the team to string together a number of wins and keep pace with the top teams at home and in Europe, hope that opponents start dropping points as they begin to face one another.