Jürgen Klopp must use the arrival of Virgil van Dijk to change the composition of his rearguard, according to Martin Keown. This season, the defense is Liverpool’s Achilles’ heel and Keown believes that Van Dijk will not solve these problems by himself. The former defender of Arsenal, among others, would like to see the record purchase form a central duo with Joe Gomez.
Gomez will be used this season as rightback by Jürgen Klopp, although he was sitting on the bank against Swansea City (5-0) on Boxing Day. In that competition the central duo was formed by Ragnar Klavan and Joel Matip, who returned after more than three weeks of injury suffering. Dejan Lovren was passed, but this season he often had a basic place,”What Klopp has to do is make use of the opportunity to form a new central duo by moving Joe Gomez to the centre”, Keown argues on Thursday in the Daily Mail.
“Until he suffered an ankle injury in January, Van Dijk was one of the best defenders of the Premier League. He was fast, strong in the air and looked really in place”, the former English international summed up,”Maybe it’s because he isn’t fully fit or because he doesn’t want to risk another injury, but this season Van Dijk seems to be playing on the autopilot more this season. He still has a lot of work to do to get back to his top level, but you have the feeling that there is still a lot to come.
According to Keown, the duo Lovren-Matip is too often in trouble and the two are not mobile enough. Gomez has earned his spurs on the wings, but during the 3-3 deportation against Arsenal he looked like a centre defender who played as rightback. It is time he got a chance in the heart of the defense. This is a great opportunity for Klopp to take a sharp look at what is best for his team from a defensive point of view, so that he can put together a fixed rearguard of four men.
Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez must form the central duo of Liverpool.
