Phil Thompson on Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool transfers and selection
Wednesday 13 September 2017 10:30, UK
Phil Thompson believes Saturday's mauling at Manchester City exposed Liverpool's failure to strengthen defensively, but feels the current crop should still have done better.
The Reds failed to put up much in the way of resistance after Sadio Mane was sent off in the 37th minute with his side trailing 1-0, allowing Pep Guardiola's men to romp to a 5-0 win.
They had previously recorded successive clean sheets, including an impressive 4-0 victory over Arsenal before the international break, but Klopp opted to recall Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ragnar Klavan ahead of Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren for the trip to the Etihad Stadium.
"I still think we could have strengthened, without a doubt," Thompson said. "We did sign Andrew Robertson, but he didn't play against City or Arsenal, so yes we should have signed somebody.
"But for me, the selection was the big issue. After such an impressive result there is no reason to make changes because it's such an important thing for a defence being settled, especially against such an offensive team when you've got to trust your team-mates.
"Lovren was on the bench and I always think if you are on the bench then you should be fit enough to play, so I can't understand why Klavan played.
"Alexander-Arnold is a fantastic offensive player but even Klopp has questioned his defensive work, so I was expecting the same back four with Gomez in there."
The Anfield legend also felt his former club capitulated poorly and should have made City work harder for their win.
He added: "We should not get beat 5-0, 10 men or not. I thought we gave in and gave up and no Liverpool team should be like that.
"I thought there wasn't enough grit and determination from the team as a whole. I would actually take Simon Mignolet out of that because none of the goals were his fault.
"I know people talked about the way City coped against Everton but it's always harder with 10 men when you're away from home.
"However, if you are organised and disciplined then you can still make it extremely hard for the other team and we didn't do that."
