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Phil Thompson is one of the finest centre-backs in Liverpool's illustrious history.

Having stood on the Kop growing up, he went on to live the dream as he captained his boyhood club to European Cup glory.

He clocked up 477 appearances between 1972 and 1983, and formed a formidable defensive double act with Alan Hansen.

Thompson later passed on that wisdom as part of the backroom staff under Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness before returning for a six-year stint as assistant manager to Gerard Houllier, which included the historic treble winning season of 2000/01.

Who better to speak to about Liverpool's current defensive woes?

The Reds sit ninth in the Premier League table having conceded 16 goals in nine games – you have to go back to 1964 for the last time they leaked so many at this stage.

Thompson has delivered his verdict on why Jurgen Klopp's side look so vulnerable and how best to plug the gaps.

Phil, it feels like we've been talking about Liverpool having defensive issues for years...

We last had real solidity back there in the Rafa Benitez era with Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia as a partnership. Since they left we've not had a really solid base to work from.

As a centre-back the three biggest things are organisation, communication and concentration. They are bywords you use as a defender.

Carra was the last of a generation really. One of his big strengths was organising team-mates and communicating.

If he had been playing in the 2013/14 season I'm quite sure we would have won the title. He was great at ensuring people were in the right positions at the right time.

(Image: (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images))

Liverpool seem to lack a really dominant personality in that backline. What can Klopp do to tighten things up?

It's okay saying certain players aren't good enough but as a coach you have to work with what you've got. Klopp can't bring anyone in until January at the earliest.

You have to work harder at it on the training ground and there's no doubt he will do that.

Defensively, we're not concentrated or organised sufficiently. We are making basic errors of judgement - when to back off, when to push up, when to hold the line.

If I could suggest something it would be that Jurgen instructs one of his assistants (Zeljko Buvac and Peter Krawietz) to organise the defence from the technical area.

Jurgen obviously follows the ball from the dugout during a game but one of them could focus solely on the backline – shouting orders and making sure they push up and drop off at the right time.

At this moment I think that's the best way to go about it because players can't be relied upon to do it themselves.

One of our problems is having the full-backs high and wide means there's a lot of space for the centre-backs to cover and we only tend to have one person in front of the back four, whether that's Jordan Henderson or someone else. That leaves us vulnerable to counter attacking football.

As a coach, it's about whether the full-backs have gone too far or the defensive midfielder is in the right position.

It's about being vocal and making sure people do their defensive jobs. Players don't just need help during training sessions but on matchdays too.

Dejan Lovren was heavily criticised for his mistakes at Wembley and suffered the humiliation of being taken off after half an hour. Would you play him against Huddersfield?

I would have to take him out of the firing line. After what he went through at Wembley, I think it's too raw at the moment to play him again so soon.

Jurgen will have to make changes. If he doesn't have faith in Ragnar Klavan then he has to go with Joe Gomez in there alongside Joel Matip.

We have a run of winnable games coming up and we have to make sure we're more solid at the back.

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Do you think Lovren still has a future at Liverpool?

You can never disregard any player because you never know when you will need him.

I still believe we sold our best defender in the summer when Mamadou Sakho went to Crystal Palace.

He was a warrior and a fighter. People say he looked ungainly but you knew what you got with him.

I know there were issues off the field with Sakho and the manager took him out of the first team set-up.

I was always a disciplinarian. It was one of the reasons why I was brought back into the football club by Gerard Houllier. But three months is plenty to isolate someone.

Defending set-pieces still seems to be a big problem...

I think the manager needs to speak to the players about what they would rather do. Man to man or zonal marking? Ask them how they feel.

A lot of other clubs who use zonal marking have a very good record but our record is poor.

Seek their advice. Would the players be more comfortable going man to man so everyone knows exactly who's picking up who?

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Last weekend re-ignited the debate about Liverpool's failure to strengthen sufficiently during the transfer window. Were you surprised they didn't pursue an alternative after Southampton refused to sell them Virgil van Dijk?

I said all summer that if we signed Virgil van Dijk he was never going to be the answer to all our problems. Yes, he's superb and would make us better but he's not a talker, he's not an aggressive player. We needed two centre-backs.

Matip was the only member of the back five at Wembley who wasn't part of Brendan Rodgers' reign. Problems that occurred back then still haven't been sorted out.

There's actually less cover at centre-back now than last season with Lucas Leiva having gone. He would always do a job.

What about the possibility of Klopp playing three at the back?

That could be another way that he sorts things out. Look at how poor Arsenal were towards the end of last season and then Arsene Wenger went to three at the back and it paid off.

It does give you a bit more solidity if you can't rely on the two centre-backs.

I did that with Gerard Houllier when we first came in. Our centre-backs weren't of the quality needed. It was before Stephane Henchoz and Sami Hyypia came in. Going to three at the back gave us the solidity and the chance to build.

Vegard Heggem and Stig Inge Bjornebye were better suited to playing wing-back rather than full-back. You have to play with what you've got.

It might help Lovren having an extra centre-back alongside him. If Gomez plays as one of the three centre-backs you could have Trent Alexander-Arnold as one wing-back and either Alberto Moreno or Andy Robertson as the other.

What about the goalkeeping position?

He didn't have a great day at Wembley but I still think Simon Mignolet is the best of the three keepers we've got. I wouldn't change that this weekend.

It's just one win in six league games for Klopp's side and only six points out of the last 18 on offer. Are you worried?

We were all devastated after Sunday's game because all our frailties were exposed by Spurs. They were there for all to see.

What disappoints everyone is that those issues haven't been rectified in recent years.

Ronald Koeman was sacked by Everton this week and I've heard people say Klopp could go too. That's ridiculous.

Where are we going to get another guy like Jurgen Klopp? We're not going to get someone else as good as him.

Koeman had problems in all areas, we have them in one.

We've got real quality going forward and some of the football we've played this season has been excellent. We saw against Maribor what happens when it clicks.

There's still so much to play for this season. Jurgen has to find solutions to problems with the players at his disposal.