In terms of national punchbags over the past few weeks Liverpool defenders have been up there with Brexit repositioners, Ryanair public relations and Football Association attempts to close down a story. So it is quite brave of Alberto Moreno, one of the most frequently pummelled members of the thin red line, to stick his head above the parapet and attempt to answer some of the criticism before his side’s trip to Newcastle.

Jürgen Klopp defends under-fire Liverpool left-back Alberto Moreno Read more

Rafa Benítez lies in wait on Tyneside, and it is generally acknowledged that he could organise a defence, but Moreno believes some credit is due to Jürgen Klopp for the way Liverpool have been playing when not conceding goals. “I just saw a stat flying around that said we have had something like 121 shots in the last six games and that’s a massively high number,” Moreno says. “But for one reason or another, it may be just luck not going our way, the ball is not going into the net. I keep praying that just some of our chances start to go in a little more frequently, because if you look at the majority of our games this season you could argue that we deserved to win.

“Whether or not we are defending well, if we put more of our chances away we would be winning more games and not just because scoring more goals would take some pressure off the defence. But if we have had 121 shots on goal we must be doing something right. We wouldn’t be creating that many chances if we were not playing well.”

The Liverpool left-back says he and his team-mates have been working on defence in training for the past few weeks, particularly with a view to tightening up at dead-ball situations. “We know ourselves we have to improve defensively,” he says. “As professionals we are aware we have been conceding too many bad goals. But what I would say as a defender is that it is a team game, football is about 11 players attacking together and they have to defend together as well. It would be a pretty tough job if all the responsibility for defending fell on the four guys in the back line and the goalkeeper.

“The game is about working together as a team and as a block, so to attach blame only to the defenders is a little unfair.”

For someone so regularly and routinely criticised, Moreno appears in good spirits and claims he is perfectly happy with his football this season, as well as his life in Liverpool. That was not always the case last season, when he struggled to get enough games and eventually suffered the indignity of losing his place to a converted midfielder in James Milner. But since a pre-season meeting with Klopp he has reclaimed his place in the side despite Liverpool signing a new left-back, Andy Robertson.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way things are going this season,” he says. “Things were bad over summer. The word was that I would be leaving and I should not try to stay, but at no point did I agree with that assumption. I wanted to stay. I wanted to fight for my place in the Liverpool team and that is the mindset I had when I came back for pre- season. I wanted to fight for my career and my future at this club.

“It is a club I love and a city I love as well, so all my critics, the people who were saying I should leave, should shut their mouths now I am back in the team.

Liverpool’s Alberto Moreno: I felt inner anger after being out of team Read more

“Last season was a bad one for me, I spent almost a year without playing many games. It reflected badly on me and my family, because they weren’t having a good time either.

“When I came back this summer I asked for a chat with the manager. I just told him honestly that I wanted to stay and asked him what I could do to win back my place in the side. In return he was very sincere with me, very honest, because he said he couldn’t promise me anything and told me he was signing a new left-back.

“But the manager encouraged me to keep working and see how things went in the early part of the season and that is what I did. It enabled me to focus on working hard to get back. I had had offers from other clubs but at the forefront of my mind was always that I wanted to stay here.”

Moreno enjoys playing under Klopp, though he recognises life as a defender might be easier at clubs with less commitment to constant pressing and sometimes reckless attacking. “I just enjoy playing,” the 25-year-old says. “I know there are teams where the wide men tuck in and drop back so that the whole team defends deeper, and that would make it easier, but it is not the way we choose to play here.

“I think Jürgen Klopp has always been faithful to his thoughts about the game and the way he wants to play. His fundamental idea is that as soon as we lose possession we must do everything we can to surround the ball and win it back as quickly as possible. It’s pretty much the ethos that he set out with at the beginning in Germany.

“His approach has always been to try and defend well, but when we attack to make sure we attack in numbers. These days a lot of football is based on attack-minded full-backs, but my instinct is first and foremost to defend. Obviously you want to help the team as much as you can by getting forward and creating chances and to do that requires a physical effort. That’s what we work on in training, to be able to last the 90 minutes, or however long it takes. But although it is important to last the whole game physically we have to do it mentally as well. You can put a lot of the goals we have been conceding down to a lack of concentration more than anything else.

“Just at particular moments, maybe from a quick throw or the second ball coming back at a corner, we have not managed to clear. That’s where we need to tighten up if we are aiming to keep clean sheets.”