The RTÉ Soccer panel were full of praise yet again for Liverpool’s ability to entertain as they reached the Champions League final, but agree that defensive issues remain a huge concern for the Reds.
Liverpool set up a date with Real Madrid in Kiev after riding their luck to contain a fired-up AS Roma in defeat at the Stadio Olimpico that sent them through 7-6 on aggregate.
The English side twice took the lead, but the home side dominated after the interval, though the 4-2 win on the night was ultimately in vain.
Yet again defensive lapses were to the fore and Eamon Dunphy said it is the clear weakness in Jurgen Klopp’s side.
"You need a goalkeeper, they don’t have one," he told viewers.
"You need two good central defenders, they have only got one. To give four goals away to Roma in those circumstances, and there were arguably two penalties that Roma didn’t get...they don’t really know how to manage a game.
"There is a lot of things that need to be done with that team, but what they have got is massive talent and they are very exciting when they have the ball."
"Lovren is not going to be good enough to keep them at the top"
Liam Brady agreed with his colleague.
While he felt Trent Alexander-Arnold may have just had a bad night at the office, possibly overawed by the big occasion, he has more serious reservations elsewhere in the Liverpool rearguard.
"Their defence can collapse at any minute," said the ex-Arsenal star.
"Over the course of the season they have been great, they have been amazing with the amount of goals they have scored, but Eamon is absolutely right, they need to build on this and looking at it forensically, the goalkeeper is not good enough to be able to keep them at the top.
"Lovren is not going to be good enough to keep them at the top."
The next challenge facing the Premier League side is to prevent Real Madrid from a third successive Champions League title.
Zinedine Zidane’s side edged past Bayern Munich, and while they lacked some of the dazzling quality as in previous years so far, Richie Sadlier says Liverpool’s performance will do little to damped expectations at Real.
"After watching Real Madrid [against Bayern Munich], I thought they git to the final in a way that would have given encouragement to whoever won tonight’s tie," he said.
"I think Liverpool won tonight’s tie in a way that will give huge encouragement to Real Madrid.
"We should be sitting here praising them for getting to a final of a competition like this, which is a phenomenal achievement as I don’t think they would have set that as a target at the start of the season.
"But there were so many elements, particularly in the second half that would make it exciting, and nerve wrecking for a Liverpool fan."
The victorious #Liverpool team pay tribute to injured fan Sean Cox #rtesoccer #UCL #ROMLIV pic.twitter.com/idKB1rX1Qz
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) May 2, 2018
