The first thing that has become very apparent this season is how solid we look at the back and by only conceding one goal so far this season, which in itself came from a massive mistake from Alisson, statistically Liverpool have the best defensive record in the Premier League and it’s been a long time since we could say that.The defence has played a big part in getting Liverpool maximum points so far as I think it’s fair to say in a few matches we haven’t been firing on all cylinders so the fact that we know we can count on the back line to do their job effectively is a massive bonus for Liverpool moving forward.The partnership of van Dijk and Gomez at centre back has been one of the revelations of the season with the pair looking indestructible at the back and with Robertson and Alexander-Arnold at full back Liverpool finally look like they have a back line that is capable of challenging for the Premier League, in fact our defence is beginning to look world class.
Another positive aspect I think we can take from the first four matches is that Liverpool haven’t hit top gear yet and despite this we have taken maximum points. We all know Liverpool can play better, and over the course of the season we will play better, but the Premier League is a marathon not a sprint and you have to pace yourself in order to make sure you are peaking at the correct point in the season.I know a lot was made of Manchester City’s 6-1 demolition of Huddersfield, and I will admit the reigning champions looked very impressive on that day but Pep Guardiola’s teams have a habit of starting the season like a whirlwind and then dying out towards the end of the campaign. Admittedly, by the time they begin to die out the championship is normally all tied up but I think this season City are going to be pushed all the way, hopefully by us, and I think by Liverpool placing themselves in these early weeks of the campaign we will hopefully have enough in the tank come April/May, which is normally about the time Guardiola’s teams begin to struggle and this could be a crucial factor in deciding the destination of the title.One thing I wanted to comment on is the role of Jordan Henderson within this Liverpool team especially after his weekend performance. Henderson started for the first time on Saturday against Leicester and personally I thought he was the poorest player on the pitch by an absolute mile, Henderson’s inability to win anything in that midfield especially in the second half was one of the main factors towards Liverpool’s poor performance at the King Power stadium, in fact after the first 20 minutes of Liverpool being dominant Leicester realised that Henderson was the weak link in that Liverpool team and kept targeting him which is when the momentum of the game changed.
In my opinion we only had two midfielders on the pitch because every time Leicester went forward they were taking Henderson out of the game. The issue I have with Henderson is when he is good he is very good but when he is poor he is abysmal, when he is put under pressure he goes missing in big matches and we saw this in the Champions League semi final last season, he was fine in the first leg up until 80 minutes when Roma realised they could get at him, and they continued this in the second leg where to be honest he had one of his worst games in the Liverpool shirt.Liverpool need to make a decision about what Henderson’s role is within the team, personally right now I think he is a bench player and I definitely don’t think he make it into our first eleven if everyone is fit. The issue is what happens when Fabinho is ready to be involved in the first team, does Henderson even make the bench and if he does who do you leave out? For me our first choice midfield is Fabinho, Milner and Keita.That leaves Henderson fighting it out with Lallana and Wijnaldum for two midfield places on the bench, and for me Henderson doesn’t dislodge the other two, so you have to ask if he doesn’t make the match day squad if everyone is fit does there need to be a debate about the captaincy? I’ll leave that debate for another time but my point is Henderson needs to raise his game and do it on a consistent level if he wants to remain as the captain because what I saw on Saturday wasn’t acceptable.
I do think Liverpool are in a very strong position going into the first International break but with Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City to come within the next month as well as the visit of PSG in the Champions League things really do step up a notch after the break and Liverpool are going to have to up their game if they want to maintain this early momentum. Article by Imraan Adam @imadam786
