Bournemouth Keeper Questions Liverpool Defenders

Asmir Begovic, the veteran Premier League goalkeeper currently between the sticks at Bournemouth, went on a Sky Sports show and had plenty of words to say about the performance of Liverpool’s backline during their embarrassing 4-1 defeat to Tottenham.

"I think for Liverpool it is a combination of things: communication, positioning and the desire to defend is lacking for Liverpool," Begovic said.

While plenty could be said about the players’ lack of communication and poor positioning, it may be a bit harsh to say that the problem is a lack of desire. If anything, it seems to be low confidence and poor decision-making mixed with trying too hard, which leads to second-guessing and the players making simple mistakes. Dejan Lovren, for all his faults, clearly is not a man who isn’t trying.

Still, questions deserve to be asked about whether he’s good enough for Liverpool, even at his best. The same questions could be asked of Liverpool’s goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, and after Sunday’s performance, perhaps even Joël Matip.

Begovic continued, "They are not doing the basics of defending and I don't think they have the pride it takes to be a defender.

"I don't think it's one thing, I think it's them as a unit. I don't think they're working together and there's a lack of continuity with the centre-back pairings and the full-backs, I don't think changing the goalkeepers is helping.

"I don't think it is one particular player or one particular thing but everything in that defensive area is going wrong. I'm not sure how much time they spend on it or if they're being coached.”

Those were harsh criticisms from Begovic, but it’s undeniable that he has a point, and he said what plenty of other pundits have been saying for the past two days, and what some Liverpool fans have been bemoaning all season. Something needs to be done about the state of this defense quickly, or Liverpool will find their season over before Christmas.