Emre Can has refused to shy away from pointing out Liverpool’s familiar frailties.
The German admits the team’s defensive woes have played a significant role in landing the Reds in a difficult situation.
Liverpool have already conceded 12 goals in the Premier League this season, which is double that of fourth-placed Chelsea.
Issues at the back also left Can and his teammates to enter the international break on the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw with Newcastle, in which Liverpool relinquished their lead by gifting striker Joselu an equalising goal.
“It’s definitely a fact that we have recently defended badly and conceded too many goals,” Can told SportBild, as translated by the Echo.
“But I still believe that when we scored goals, we won the games. Then nobody was speaking about the defence.”
“The coach himself says we didn’t play badly. We almost dominated the opponents in all games and were the better team. Jurgen Klopp is convinced that only the necessary luck is missing to return to winning.”
“At Liverpool, however, nobody questions the coach. Jurgen Klopp is a top, top trainer.”
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Jurgen Klopp’s men can’t afford another shoddy display when they welcome second-placed Manchester United to Anfield on Saturday.
Having scored 21 goals and only conceded two in the league so far, Jose Mourinho’s side threaten to punish the kind of average performances that have contributed to a lacklustre few weeks for the Reds.
It will be interesting to see how Klopp sets his team up, with a lack of goals having emerged as another pressing concern in recent outings- one that has exposed defensive weaknesses to an even greater extent.