Liverpool's Centre-Back Crisis Ahead of New Premier League Season
Andoni Iraola will take Liverpool into the new Premier League season with a squad that already looks stretched in key areas, and nowhere is the concern sharper than at the heart of defence.
Centre-back crisis before a ball is kicked
With the campaign starting away at Newcastle next weekend, Virgil van Dijk stands as the only fully fit senior centre-back. Around him, it is a patchwork of recovery schedules, managed minutes and medical updates.
New signing Jacquet, the £60million defender recruited from Rennes, has endured a stuttering start. An unspecified problem kept him out of the recent 3-2 defeat to Monaco and he has yet to feature in pre-season. His final year in France was cut short by a shoulder injury, and Liverpool have been wary of rushing him.
The mood shifted slightly this week. Jacquet returned to full team training and is handed a start against Como, a significant step in Iraola’s attempt to stabilise his back line before the real stuff begins.
Iraola has not waited for luck to change. He has moved in the market, securing Ronald Araujo on loan from Barcelona. The Uruguay international is among the substitutes this evening, another sign of how quickly Liverpool have had to rebuild a defence that once looked settled.
Giovanni Leoni is still on the long road back from the ACL injury he suffered on debut a year ago. Joe Gomez, who had hoped to stake his claim this summer, limped off during the 4-2 win over Sunderland in the USA last month with a muscle issue. He was replaced that day by youngster Ifeanyi Ndukwe, and the injury is expected to wreck his chances of starting the season.
On top of that, Ibrahima Konate has gone. His contract expired and he left on a free, signing for Real Madrid and leaving another hole for Iraola to plug.
Midfield knocks and late returns
The problems are not confined to defence. Curtis Jones has been nursing a hip injury at the same time as transfer links to Inter Milan swirl around him. He missed the Monaco defeat, returned to training this week, but is left out again here as Liverpool tread carefully.
Victor Munoz and Alexis Mac Allister are back from their post-World Cup breaks and have been eased in. Both featured with Liverpool’s second string in a 70-minute behind-closed-doors friendly against Como at the training ground on Sunday, a game that finished goalless.
Munoz steps up to the bench for the second meeting with Como at Anfield and will be pushing for more minutes as a substitute.
The season has not yet started, but Iraola is already juggling fitness, form and the transfer market. With Newcastle looming, the margin for error is shrinking fast.
