"The mechanisms of a football team are delicate. You win the league then add nearly 300m of talent and it doesn't necessarily mean you'll win it again, doesn't necessarily make you better, even if you're not doing something as obviously likely to cause imbalance as adding Kylian Mbappe to a Real Madrid team already stacked with left-sided attackers. Liverpool go into Sunday's home game against Arsenal having won two out of two in the Premier League and scored a healthy seven goals."
"The defensive problems are obvious and the return of Ryan Gravenberch at Newcastle on Monday did not magically solve them. Just as telling, perhaps, is that Liverpool, despite letting in those six goals, are yet to go behind this season. That is remarkable for a team who last season made the uneventful 2-0 win a trademark."
Liverpool invested heavily after winning the league, but new arrivals have not guaranteed clear improvement. The side has won two Premier League matches and scored seven goals, yet including the Community Shield they have conceded two goals in each of three games, exposing defensive problems. Ryan Gravenberch's return did not solve those issues. Despite conceding six goals, Liverpool have not fallen behind this season, unlike last season when controlled 2-0 wins conserved energy and supported a positive injury record. Recently Liverpool failed to keep Crystal Palace at arm's length and twice surrendered 2-0 leads, needing late strikes; individual errors and a loss of composure even against ten men culminated in a Pyrrhic defeat.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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