After Liverpool's 3-2 defeat against West Ham on Sunday, some fans will be worried that former defender Glen Johnson may have been right with his pre match comments on the Reds defending.
It was a disappointing afternoon for Liverpool which saw their 25 game unbeaten run come to an end as they struggled to defend against West Ham's set pieces.
Johnson had spoken to The Mirror ahead of the game about Liverpool's form so far this season and fired a warning about their defending.
Johnson On Liverpool's Defence
"I don't think they're as rock-solid as they have been."
"They've got very high standards and they set the bar high of course. By their standards, I don't think a few of their players are at their best - but I don't think they have to be at their best to win football matches."
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"If they want to take this title race to the line and go deep in the Champions League then they will have to hit form at the right time. So I don't think they've been as solid as they usually are, but they're still performing well enough to win games."
Johnson On Salah
The retired England international also said that he believed that the form of Mohamed Salah had masked some of the defensive deficiencies.
"Anytime you've got players like [Salah] on the pitch, then you're always gonna be a threat. He's always going to peg teams back if you've got the ball, so it doesn't matter if your defence isn't on form anyway."
LFCTR Verdict
There is no doubt that at times Liverpool have not defended well as a team this season so Johnson was absolutely right with his comments.
Fingers cannot be pointed at the defenders as often issues have arisen due to a lack of protection in front of them.
Liverpool have been free scoring so far and I think this has come at a cost of being more generous at the back.
Klopp will need to get the balance between defence and attack right once the Premier League resumes after the international break to ensure his team maintain the pressure on leaders Chelsea.
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