From attack weapons to defensive weapons
The defeat to Chelsea against FIFA Days was the clearest proof. Estevao's late goal sunk Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, marking their third defeat in just eight days. That situation started with a deep cross from the left wing by Marc Cucurella, the ball passed everything to the Estevao position, who was half a beat faster than Andrew Robertson, before launching a neat shot.
That was not the first time Liverpool were hit in the same position. According to statistics, Arne Slot's team has missed 7 dangerous opportunities from attacks from the far post, only 3 teams below the bottom of the table are West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Wolves. Meanwhile, last season they only conceded 3 goals in this way.
Obviously, this is becoming the new "achilles heel" of Liverpool's defense.
Robertson and Kerkez are worries on the left wing
Robertson is considered a symbol of endurance and cannot avoid mistakes. In the situation where Chelsea scored, the Scottish defender was defeated both positionalally and reflexively, partly due to an injury after the previous collision with Moises Caicedo.
Even Liverpool's first loss to Bournemouth this season has a similar scenario. Robertson was easily overtaken by Antoine Semenyo to score from a cross from the opposite wing.
However, Robertson is not the only one having problems. New signing Milos Kerkez has not shown the expected form. The Hungarian player is 1.8m tall, not below the standard of a full-back but still appears weak in air combat. Typically, in the match against Newcastle, he almost stood watching Bruno Guimaraes jump high to head the ball into the far post.
Opponents have begun to proactively exploit Liverpool's weakness. Remember in the match against Everton, Kerkez struggled to defend the opponent's crosses. The result was a similar situation that led to the Reds' only goal in that match.
The hole from the right wing is the source of the problem
When digging deeper, it is easy to see that Liverpool's left defense's weakness actually originates from the right wing. The crosses to the far post were because the opponents too easily handled the ball from the opposite side.
Under Arne Slot, Mohamed Salah was allowed to hold a higher position without the ball to be ready to counterattack, leading to Liverpool often having only 2 or 3 players to cover when pressured to the edge. Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong and Dominik Szoboszlai have never shown any solidity, they always become targets that are thoroughly exploited.
Cucurella himself admitted: We know Salah is often pushing high and leaving space. The coach told us to take advantage of that area and that was done in the final goal."
So far, Liverpool have used five different right-back players: Frimpong, Bradley, Szoboszlai, Joe Gomez and Wataru Endo. The constant rotation of the defense has caused instability and Premier League opponents have quickly realized that if they want to defeat Liverpool, attack on the right wing.
Statistics show that 38% of the opponent's attacks this season have come from that direction, which is an alarming number.
Arne Slot needs an immediate solution
In the match against Chelsea, Robertson entered the field in the 55th minute but had to face 3 dangerous situations at the far post in the second half alone, when Liverpool could not stop crosses from the right wing. With Szoboszlai temporarily towing down to right-back and Gravenberch playing right-back, the entire defensive structure became loose, forcing the left wing to be under heavy pressure.
In theory, Slot's 4-3-3 system was designed to help Liverpool cover better, but reality shows the opposite, when opponents exploited too easily and scored according to the correct scenario they had prepared.
Now, Arne Slot has a clear task to face: stabilizing personnel in defense and solving the gap on both sides. Continuous changes in position have broken the understanding between defenders and midfielders, leading to a situation of disorientation.
The Kop captain needs to rectify this issue seriously and thoroughly. Otherwise, Liverpool will continue to pay the price from the same weapon that helped them build their brand. The fast border balls have now turned into double-edged swords.
