Squad depth exposed as Liverpool capitulate to Leeds with abysmal second half display | OneFootball

Liverpool 2-4 Leeds United: Chicago Collapse Exposes Defensive Need for Andoni Iraola

Pre-season is a funny old business. One week you look sharp, the patterns are there, the football flows and everyone starts talking themselves into a bright campaign. The next, the cracks show, the game gets away from you and all the old anxieties come flooding back.

That was the story for Liverpool in Chicago. For 45 minutes they looked in control, looked organised and looked full of promise. By full-time, after a bruising second-half collapse, they had been beaten 4-2 by Leeds United and left with a glaring reminder that this squad still needs work, particularly at the back.

There were good signs, especially from Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak in their first pre-season outing, and there was a smartly taken opener from Luke Chambers. Yet the overriding feeling from Soldier Field was that Liverpool remain far too vulnerable when the game turns scrappy, physical and direct.

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Defensive frailties punish Liverpool again

This was the sort of defeat that strips away any summer optimism. Liverpool were 2-0 up through Chambers and Wirtz, and at that stage they looked comfortable enough. Then came the familiar wobble, and then the familiar mess.

Leeds scored four times in the final stretch, with three goals arriving in a damaging 13-minute spell before Dominic Calvert-Lewin wrapped things up late on with his second of the evening. The ease with which Liverpool were opened up will worry Iraola. The manner in which they were overpowered from set-pieces and long throws will worry him even more.

There are mitigating circumstances. Virgil van Dijk has been absent after the World Cup. Joe Gomez is out after suffering a muscle injury earlier in pre-season. Jeremy Jacquet has not been risked after discomfort in training. Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley are still working back from long-term injuries. That has left Liverpool relying heavily on young defenders, with Ifeanyi Ndukwe and Mor Talla Ndiaye asked to shoulder big responsibility, while Chambers has also had to fill in centrally.

The youngsters have shown heart and application, and Chambers in particular deserves credit. But Liverpool’s needs are obvious. They require defensive reinforcements, and quickly. Centre-back depth looks thin, right-back cover is still a concern, and the ongoing issues at set-pieces have not gone away with the change in the dugout.

Leeds sensed weakness and kept pressing at it. Long throws caused chaos, second balls were not dealt with, and too many Liverpool players looked reactive rather than authoritative. When Calvert-Lewin ghosted in at the far post for one of his goals, it summed up a back line that had lost all command of the contest.

Wirtz and Isak offer real encouragement

There was, however, something to cling to from the first half. Liverpool’s best football came with Wirtz operating in the No 10 role and Isak leading the line. Both have much to prove this season after underwhelming returns last term, and both offered reasons to think better days could lie ahead.

Isak’s movement was sharp. He drifted deep intelligently, linked play well and helped create space for others to attack. Wirtz looked lively and inventive, finding pockets, moving the ball quickly and showing the sort of awareness that can quicken Liverpool’s attacking rhythm.

The second goal was the standout moment of the first half and the best passage of football Liverpool produced all evening. Wirtz helped begin the move, the ball was worked smartly through midfield, and after Jeremie Frimpong’s neat contribution, the German finished clinically. It was slick, balanced and purposeful, the kind of move Iraola will want to see far more often once the serious business starts.

There was also a useful reminder of Frimpong’s attacking qualities, while Rio Ngumoha looked willing and adventurous. Liverpool were pressing with intent, passing with confidence and carrying a threat. For that spell, they looked like a team building towards something coherent.

Neither Isak nor Wirtz reappeared for the second half, which is understandable at this stage of the summer. Their evening was about minutes, rhythm and signs of chemistry. On that front, there was enough to be encouraged by.

Leeds turn physical edge into dominance

Leeds deserve credit for the way they wrestled control of the match. Their first half had lacked rhythm, but changes after the break brought energy, edge and a directness Liverpool could not handle.

Sean Longstaff added aggression and drive in midfield. Brenden Aaronson brought movement and intensity. Harry Wilson offered quality in support areas. Calvert-Lewin gave Leeds a focal point and then punished Liverpool ruthlessly once the openings appeared.

The long throws were the key weapon. They kept coming, they kept asking questions and Liverpool kept failing to answer them. Leeds won first contacts and then increasingly hoovered up the loose balls around the box. Once that pressure built, the momentum shifted decisively.

There was more to it than aerial bombardment. Leeds pushed their wing-backs infield cleverly, got support around Calvert-Lewin and found space through the channels. Liverpool’s shape became ragged, their confidence drained away and the game ran off with them.

That will sting because, whatever the line-up, Liverpool had looked to be cruising. To lose control so completely is what makes this more than an ordinary pre-season defeat.

Armband issue fades as bigger questions remain

One sideshow from earlier in the tour did not resurface. When Dominik Szoboszlai went off late on, he passed the armband to Curtis Jones without fuss, and that was that. A small detail, maybe, but at least there was no repeat of the awkwardness seen previously.

Jones remains a player with uncertainty hanging over him, and that situation may develop once the squad is back on Merseyside. For now, though, the larger issues are impossible to miss.

Liverpool are short at the back. They are still vulnerable under the high ball. They still lack defensive depth. And while there were encouraging flashes from key attacking players, this defeat was a reminder that nice combinations in July and August count for little if the basics are not right.

Iraola has seen both ends of his new side in one night. The first half showed what Liverpool could become. The second half showed why the transfer work cannot wait.