Jurgen Klopp’s failure to land his prime defensive target Virgil van Dijk in the summer could come back to hit him hard this season, according to the Liverpool Echo correspondent James Pearce.
The Dutch defender was the top name in Klopp’s wish list and the Reds went for his signature with full fervor but with no result. The saga unrolled through the summer and despite a late push by the player to force a move, Southampton did not budge.
Klopp, on his part, did not pursue an alternate target and Pearce feels that this indecision could haunt the Reds. Pearce, who covers all the Reds’ games, was very critical of Klopp’s summer business as he explained in the aftermath of the team’s 2-2 draw against Sevilla in the Champions League.
“The opening stages of this season have exposed the folly of the club’s failure to sign a top-class centre-back this summer,” Pearce wrote in the Liverpool Echo.
“Van Dijk may have proved out of reach but there should have been a Plan B. A major weakness simply wasn’t addressed.”
The match against Sevilla was in a way, symbolic of how Liverpool’s season could unfold. They completely dominated their Spanish opponents and could have easily won by four or more goals. That the Reds had 24 attempts on goal compared to just two shots on target for Sevilla indicates the extent of their dominance.
However, the fact that both sides ended up scoring two goals each, is a glaring tribute to Liverpool’s weaknesses. The Reds ripped apart Sevilla with their blazing runs in the first-half, only for the old habits to return the favour, with two goals in each half for the visitors.
Pearce was perfectly right about his assessment of Van Dijk’s pursuit. Clearly, it was an area that needed to be strengthened and it was identified by Klopp. That we went after his signature with gusto and were ready to offer £60million in the summer meant that Van Dijk was identified as the solution.
But, what about a backup plan? Clearly, we had none because we started the new season with literally no change in the back four and with the prospect of same mistakes cropping up.
The first goal scored by Sevilla was an error by Dejan Lovren and while mistakes can happen, this is not the first offense from the Croatian. The second goal was due to a lack of quick reactions to a throw-in. The frailties at the back nullified the dazzling form of the front line.
Let’s hope that the back four picks up from here and proves everyone wrong, including me.
https://youtu.be/95sU7jwp6LA
