Liverpool’s defence has been a worry of their fans for some years here in the Transfer Tavern.
Long gone are the days of Phil Thompson, Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson who helped the club to such huge success in the 70’s and 80’s.
Even in the first decade of this century, the Reds’ defence was pretty solid. Players like Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia were particularly solid but those days seem long gone.
There is evidence they could be coming back, with Joel Matip looking particularly solid so far but it is of course too soon to make any such conclusions.
Why has it been so poor in recent years then? You’ll always miss players like Carragher and Hyypia but it’s the signings that seem to have really let the club down.
Our landlord is certainly of this impression right now and reckons these THREE in particular are the worst defenders the club have had in the last decade…
Gabriel Paletta
Paletta had a promising reputation when he joined as a youngster but he never really realised it.
He was meant to be the long term heir to Carragher and Hyypia, but quickly showed he wasn’t really anywhere near there standard or near any of the other defenders in the club.
He went on to have an okay career but at Liverpool he simply wasn’t good enough.
Alberto Moreno
A bit harsh? Our landlord doesn’t think so.
Going forward Moreno is a pretty decent looking player but as a left-back he needs to defend first and he just simply cannot do that.
He flies recklessly and timelessly into challenges, gives away the ball and loses his position way too often for a Premier League defender and that’s why he’s in this list.
Andrea Dossena
You’d think a man that could score back to back goals against Manchester United and Real Madrid would be a hit, but he was far from it.
He, despite these two goals, wasn’t very good going forward and defensively wasn’t great either.
He couldn’t get ahead of Fabio Aurelio in the side and though Aurelio was a decent player he wasn’t exactly world class.
Dossena really was poor.
