Why Liverpool really need a centre-back next summer

BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 14: manager Jurgen Klopp of Liverpool looks on during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool FC at American Express Community Stadium on January 14, 2023 in Brighton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 14: manager Jurgen Klopp of Liverpool looks on during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool FC at American Express Community Stadium on January 14, 2023 in Brighton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)

There are a lot of issues with this Liverpool squad but currently, no one is talking about some of them, which baffles me. Liverpool are in such dire need of players across all positions; it’s mind-boggling to me that there are so many players that think Liverpool only need one or two players to get back to the pinnacle of English and European football. That’s not true. That’s not how rebuilds work.

I don’t know if Liverpool are going to do this, but they should. Their centre-back positions for starters are in really good hands. But, talking about just the starters is unfair. There will be times, hell, there have been times when one or both of the starters have been injured, and it’s not like they don’t have replacements. They do, but I don’t think those replacements are good enough anymore.

Liverpool’s starting centre-backs when all their players are fit are Ibrahima Konate and Virgil Van Dijk. One of them is injury prone, and the other is really good but can also get injured sometimes.

After that, you have Joel Matip and Joe Gomez. No offense to these two players in the slightest, I think they have been really good sometimes, and for stretches, but at this point, it’s a huge drop in quality from the starters to the replacements.

This is why Liverpool need a quality centre-back. It’s not all they need, but it’s one of the many things that this squad needs to stay competitive in English and European football.

Look at Real Madrid’s centre-backs. They have three starter-calibre players in David Alaba, Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger, and a really good bench option in Nacho Fernandez. This is the team that beat Liverpool in the Champions League final.

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This is the team Liverpool face in this season’s Champions League, and if they can upgrade their team after winning the biggest club competition in Europe, so can the Reds.