John Aldridge was worried about one thing he saw from Liverpool which ‘could have cost them’ in their win over Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The Reds moved into the top four in the Premier League with a 3-1 victory at Anfield, although it wasn’t until Florian Wirtz’s goal deep into stoppage time that the result felt secure, and the hosts were also indebted to Freddie Woodman for some outstanding saves to limit the Eagles to one goal.
In his latest column for the Liverpool Echo, the former LFC striker was alarmed by how easily Oliver Glasner’s side dominated on set pieces, citing that as an issue that Arne Slot’s team must address in the final month of the season.
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Aldridge wrote: ‘Set plays were a worry for me. I was doing the commentary for LFCTV. In general, we defended alright. They had a number 5, Maxence Lacroix, marked by Florian Wirtz. It reminded me of the mismatch in the League Cup final against Newcastle United last season when Dan Burn was being marked by Alexis Mac Allister.
‘I don’t know who organises Liverpool from set plays but it’s not rocket science. Their big man Lacroix – they knew the way we defend and he was just peeling off the back. He should have scored twice, but Freddie Woodman pulled off a good save and the other one was blocked.
‘I know I’m nitpicking, but I just don’t get it. If someone does it the first time then it’s up to Virgil van Dijk or someone to say: ‘Look, let’s swap players.’ I know they’re like robots these days and they’re told to do a job. It’s down to whoever organises the set plays. It’s happened a lot this season and yet our set plays have been quite good going forward.
‘If you get caught out by it once you can’t let it happen a second time. They had several corners and we don’t seem to learn from our mistakes. That’s something that can be eradicated. It’s simple.
‘It could have cost us. Had they scored a couple of goals in the first half, they could have gone on get a draw or even win the game, but the goalie pulled off a couple of good saves and we got away with it.’
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Liverpool fans were rightly satisfied with a third straight league win to further strengthen our prospects of qualifying for the Champions League – something which had seemed precariously uncertain just a few weeks ago – but Aldridge’s concerns over our set-piece defending on Saturday are legitimate.
On another day, Lacroix might well have had a couple of goals from headers he won from corner kick deliveries, and we’d instead be discussing more dropped points at home for the Reds in a season in which that has been an all too frequent occurrence.
That the diminutive Wirtz – whose perceived lack of physicality has been cited as a weakness by some pundits this season – was tasked with marking the giant Palace defender seemed rather strange, and it should give Slot and his coaching staff food for thought ahead of our upcoming fixtures.
It’s exactly the kind of situation that Harry Maguire could exploit to the fullest for Manchester United when they play Liverpool next Sunday, if the Merseysiders fail to address the set-piece issues that Aldridge highlighted.
Hopefully that potential worry will be addressed in our four remaining matches and there won’t be any uncomfortable twists in the race for Champions League qualification.