Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has defended the Reds’ defensive system ahead of this afternoon’s Premier League clash at home to Burnley.
The Reds have conceded some sloppy goals from set pieces in their opening four league games of the season, of which they have won two and lost two.
But Carragher insists their zonal marking system does work and only needs a bit more improvement to seal the gaps that have let in goals in the early stages of the current campaign.
He said, “We’ve conceded our goals at set-pieces this season, but I don’t think that’s down to a lack of understanding. It’s maybe that we haven’t attacked the ball, lost a runner or something. The whole team comes back defending in the box and if one man doesn’t do their job, the ball’s in the back of your net.
“It’s not about the new players because in general play we have been fine, but it’s obviously something we have to improve on.
“People always say when you man-mark you know whose fault it is when the goal goes in. But because we know the zonal system a bit better than you guys, we know who’s at fault when someone’s not done their job, and we talk about that on the training ground to put it right.
“It’s easy to point the finger at man-marking, but we are aware of where things have gone wrong and on Saturday we have to put it right.
“We’ve been using that system for a long time so everyone should be comfortable with it. Personally I’ve been doing it for five or six years with the manager, and for a few of them we’ve had one of the best records in the Premier League. It’s about players wanting to head the ball and being aggressive in the box.”
Liverpool vs Burnley gets underway at 3pm this afternoon and there’ll be live text commentary right here on This Is Anfield from 2.45pm.
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