It is a day ending in y, so obviously people are talking about the state of Liverpool’s defence.
The Reds go to Leicester City on Saturday afternoon potentially without the services of both Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren , shining even more of an uncomfortable spotlight on a part of their team which has struggled of late, again.
Having missed out on signing Virgil van Dijk in the summer, Jurgen Klopp could partner Ragnar Klavan with youngster Joe Gomez in the centre of defence at the King Power Stadium, and while that’s hardly ideal, Reds fans need to remember that things have been worse for them before.
A lot worse.
Remember these terrible defenders?
10. Mauricio Pellegrino
Yep, we’re kicking off with the current Southampton manager.
In many ways this is a harsh inclusion for the Argentinean, who had a fine career at Valencia before arriving at Anfield on a six-month deal in January 2005. This allowed Sami Hyypia to rest up for the Champions League, which obviously worked.
But he was 33 at this point, and as he struggled to adapt to the rough and tumble of the Premier League, Liverpool lost on half of his 12 appearances.
9. Phil Babb
Back in September 1994, £3.6m was a lot of money to pay for a defender. It was the most money, in fact, with Phil Babb’s move from Coventry City setting a British record.
And while he wasn’t terrible , and managed 170 appearances in all competitions, more had been expected of the Liverpool No. 6 than several erratic games and underwhelming performances.
Which is pretty much what everyone says about Lovren these days.
8. Andrea Dossena
Not the first or the last big money Italian to fail at Liverpool, there had been high hopes for Dossena when he arrived from Udinese for £7m in 2008. But Liverpool’s left-back position is where high hopes go to die.
He was far more interested in attacking, and although goals in wins against Manchester United and Real Madrid in the same week earn him a considerable amount of brownie points, he was still pretty terrible.
7. Julian Dicks
Before West Ham fans fly into a rage, we know that left-back Dicks was a brilliant player for your club, but we’re just talking about his Liverpool days here okay?
And they weren’t very good.
In a poor Reds period under Graeme Souness, Dicks struggled on the left side of defence, and after just one season at the club he was shipped out when Roy Evans replaced the Scot in the managerial hotseat in 1994.
6. Jan Kromkamp
Blink and you’d have missed Jan Kromkamp’s Liverpool career. And that was probably for the best.
The Dutchman arrived in January 2006 as a replacement for a man you’re about to read about below, but he was another full-back who was more interested in attacking than defending and wasn’t very good at either.
Gets an honourable mention for his cameo in 2006 FA Cup final, but had left again three months later.
5. Josemi
And before Kromkamp, there was Josemi.
Rafael Benitez’s first ever Liverpool signing actually started out pretty well in the 2004/05 season, shining in his first few games before fading badly and then disappearing altogether.
He’s forever etched in Liverpool legend though, simply for standing next to Steven Gerrard as he lifted the Champions League trophy in Istanbul, where he was an unused substitute.
4. Bjorn Tore Kvarme
Another who started pretty well, the Norwegian defender was ridiculed for wearing shinpads in training when he first turned up on Merseyside in 1997, but it was what he did on the pitch that was soon getting laughed at.
Kvarme made 45 league appearances over two years at Anfield, with barely any of them being any good.
3. Philipp Degen
A man who might actually have been made of glass, Swiss full-back Degen arrived on a free transfer in the summer of 2008 and went on to play just seven Premier League games over the next three years.
Always inventing new ways to get injured, he broke two ribs and punctured a lung on his debut in the League Cup against Crewe.
That was probably one of the higher points.
2. Torben Piechnik
Always a staple on those ‘Liverpool’s worst ever XI’ teamsheets, Danish defender Piechnik arrived at Anfield as a Euro 92 winner, but left with his reputation shattered.
That wasn’t entirely his fault as Liverpool were pretty poor back then, but… well, yeah, a lot of it was his fault.
1. Paul Konchesky
Again, as with Dicks, left-back Konchesky has been a good player for other clubs – including Billericay Town right now – but it was a case of wrong man under the wrong manager at the wrong club when he joined Liverpool in 2009.
Very much seen as Roy Hodgson’s player, when things started to go wrong for Hodgson they also started to go wrong for him.
He’s best forgotten at Anfield, although the same goes for the other nine players mentioned here too.
SOURCE: mirror.co.uk
