How many Liverpool fans must have tweeted at the half-time break about the club’s evident need for defensive reinforcements in January, we wonder?
We were certainly guilty of as much on Empire’s official X account, though who could blame us after witnessing a truly torrid display from Jurgen Klopp’s men in the first-half at the Molineux.
The German tactician was visibly irate at what he witnessed, notably calling Joel Matip to the touchline to vent over the quality of the performance.
READ MORE: ‘Perfection’ – Pundit blown away by what £8m Liverpool player did in second-half v Wolves
Consider Jarell Quansah…
One bright spark beyond the goalscoring display of Andy Robertson and Joe Gomez’s improvement in the second-half was the assured performance of 20-year-old Academy graduate Jarell Quansah.
Popping into the backline with Ibrahima Konate not quite back up to full speed and Virgil van Dijk serving the final day of his two-game suspension, Jurgen Klopp turned to one of pre-season’s bright new stars.
The youngster performed exceptionally well, it has to be said, but Klopp, nor the rest of Liverpool’s key decision-makers, won’t be fooling themselves ahead of the January window.
Defensive reinforcements are required.
Klopp must recruit in January… but who?
Goncalo Inacio’s name has resurfaced following repeated links in the summer window, with us in clear need of a left-footed, left-sided centre-half to provide cover for veteran Virgil van Dijk.
Likewise, we’ve seen tentative links to Bayer Leverkusen’s Piero Hincapie floating around, which would make just as much sense given his status as a left-footed centre-back.
Either way, with concerns persisting over our options at the back, it would be foolish – and potentially risky the development of Quansah, were we forced to rely on his services for an extended run of games – to not dip into the window should an opportunity arise.
#Ep90 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Steve Kay – Goncalo Inacio NEXT?🎙️
Both Mario and Gomez should have been sold last season. A new RB so Trent can be used in midfield more and at least 1 new CB to ease the pressure on VVD and Konate.
3 more senior CB’s and 2 academy aged players to get minutes when going well and cup games.
Klopp should have shouted at himself first. Playing away without 3 first-choice defenders and he opts not to play the one fit number 6 we have to provide cover for them? Terrible.
Not many teams can seamlessly lose 3/4 of their starting defence without some hiccups, so let’s stop with the shouting and nonsense reactions, shall we?
Barring a string of injuries, we won’t buy a defender in January.