Dropping Simon Mignolet was a smart and necessary decision by Brendan Rodgers. He has been very poor this season and as we saw last season with Joe Hart, being dropped can spark resurgence in form. But, although his defense is put under pressure due to his lack of command in the box, it would be hard to say that this is the move that will get Liverpool’s defense back on track. Brendan Rodgers will continue to pay for the choices he made with his defense in the summer.
He brought Dejan Lovren in from Southampton, and quite frankly the man has not proven to be worth two million pounds, nonetheless 20. Jamie Carragher made light of his frustration with Lovren after his most recent disaster in the 3-0 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
"He's cost a lot of money but he's actually made it worse," Carragher said.
"He's made more mistakes in league as a defender and he's made a mistake for the goal."
On the other hand, he let Daniel Agger return to Brondby for a reported three million pounds. Agger did not have the best of seasons last year but in terms of left sided center backs he has been one of the more consistent and hard working in past years. In my opinion it was 20 million pounds that Rodgers did not have to spend on a defender. Instead, it could have gone towards the purchase of an attacker such as Ezequiel Lavezzi or Edinson Cavani. After all, it was their attacking play that got them so close to the title last season, and they have failed so miserably in replacing Luis Suarez.
Alberto Moreno has been the one bright light in the Liverpool defense. His forward runs can be mesmerizing but he is young and has been prone to the naturally occurring error for a youngster. It also seems a mistake that Kolo Toure does not get more game time. Lovren and Martin Skrtel have been pretty dreadful whereas Toure, who has won titles with Arsenal and Manchester City, could be considered to be their best performing defender this season. Meanwhile, Javi Manquillo, who was brought in on loan from Athletico Madrid has been just as ineffective as Glen Johnson. To make matters worse, the deal is for two years.
It is fair to say that Liverpool came close to winning the league with their attack, and ultimately lost it due to their defense. However, Brendan Rodgers has not been convincing this summer or this season in making his Liverpool defense any better. Dropping Mignolet, although necessary, will improve very little about Liverpool’s back four.
Source: DSG
