Former Liverpool hero John Barnes believes the signing of Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly won’t bring Jurgen Klopp’s defense to perfection.
Koulibaly could be Liverpool’s next big-money acquisition after Klopp oversaw his side’s decline in defense at the beginning of the season.
The Reds’ defensive woes have been brutally exposed in the early stage of 2020/21, with newly-promoted Leeds United firing in three goals at Anfield on Matchday 1.
But, the real tragedy took place at Villa Park last weekend, where Aston Villa humiliated the reigning Premier League champions by putting seven past Adrian in a 7-2 thumping.
Such an underwhelming start to the season has raised the alarm, urging Klopp to add another high-quality defender to his well-stocked backline.
Seen by many as one of the best centre-backs of his generation, Koulibaly has quickly emerged as a perfect Virgil van Dijk’s partner.
Although Liverpool missed out on a chance to snap up the 29-year-old Senegalese star in the summer, a new opportunity could arise in January.
Yet, re-flamed talks of the Merseyside giants rekindling their interest in the Napoli stalwart have no real foundation, according to Barnes.
“Conceding more goals has nothing to do with the personnel in the back four, Liverpool are just playing differently,” Reds legend Barnes told BonusCodeBets.
“They’re playing a much higher line because Klopp has tweaked the system, and they’re looking to score more goals and are giving away more chances as a result of that.
“It’s not got anything to do with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez or any other players – they are all fine.
“If you want perfection then, of course, you could go and get Kalidou Koulibaly and have better players, but you’re not going to get perfection.
“Liverpool have lost one game and lost one game last year and one game the year before. This was a bad performance, but I’m not getting carried away thinking all of a sudden the wheels have come off – they were fantastic against Arsenal.
“This is not a situation where Liverpool should make any knee-jerk reactions and say if anything is wrong. They were 20 points better than everyone else with a similar team as last year, so I don’t see what the problem is now.
“It was a terrible performance in one game, if this continues, you could maybe start asking questions. But nobody will get carried away after one performance.”
Be sure not to miss out on the latest news about Kalidou Koulibaly
Download our brand new App and follow your favorite players, clubs, and much more
