Is Lovren not training undermining Liverpool’s defence under Klopp?

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Jurgen Klopp insists he’s improving Liverpool’s defence on the training pitch, yet Dejan Lovren isn’t even training.

Joselu of Newcastle United scores his side’s goal during the Premier League match against Liverpool.

Yet another defensive error let Liverpool down as they drew 1-1 at Newcastle United in the Premier League when one simple pass allowed Joselu in for the equaliser.

Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip were criticised for leaving too much space between them in central defence as the Spaniard ran through to score.

The Reds have now conceded 12 goals in seven league matches, with only Crystal Palace and Swansea City having let in more. In 12 games in all competitions this season they have kept just two clean-sheets.

Jurgen Klopp, manager of Liverpool, gives his team instructions during the Premier League match against Newcastle United.

Yet manager Jurgen Klopp insists that he is working on the problem on the training pitch, telling the Liverpool Echo in September: “It’s really hard for me, I’m usually a really good defensive coach to be honest, but you see it works not too good so far. It’s how it is.

“The main thing for defending is tactical discipline. I don’t know everything about football but I could write a book in the next two hours about which space we have to defend – when, why, where you have to be, where you have to step up, where you have to push up.

“As long as not every player is doing it, I will talk about it, we will work on it. When everybody is doing it, I’ll make sure we do it for the rest of our lives.”

Dejan Lovren of Liverpool and Harry Maguire of Leicester City in action.

So if Klopp is working on improving the defence with his players in training, why do the same mistakes keep happening? Well one problem could be the fact one player key to its success isn’t actually training and hasn’t been for some time.

That man is Lovren, one of those at fault for Newcastle’s goal and who has received plenty of individual criticism; not least for allowing the ball to go under his foot for one of Sevilla’s strikes during a 2-2 draw in the Champions League.

The 29-year-old has played nine games out of 12 so far this campaign, but admitted to Croatian publication Sportske novosti that he is not actually training.

“I have problems for the last two weeks with my whole body, it hurts,” Lovren was quoted by the Independent. “I have problems with my back…and now I have hurt my Achilles’ tendon.

“I play, but I’m not training at all. I can’t train. The biggest problem is my back. That’s why I skipped the matches against Manchester City and Burnley in the Premier League.

“I have big problems with the left side of my body. I’m taking pills so I can play. I take five pills before every game.”

It may be too simplistic to say that one of the main centre-backs not training is the reason for the Merseysiders’ problems at the back, but if that is where Klopp is claiming he is working on improving things then it surely can’t help.