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A football club is made up of not just the XI players on the field, but the manager, the substitutes, coaches and other various support staff. However, the limelight is generally hogged by the players on the football pitch as the whole world watches them. Incidentally, the praise for a good performance as well as negative comments for a bad display is also borne by the players and in some cases, the manager.
Even among the players, usually the attackers get most of the plaudits as their contribution is there on paper for everyone to see. The defensive players, the midfielders or the centre-backs may go unnoticed even after a good performance. However, sometimes a defender attracts the judgemental eyes of the footballing community maybe due to his price tag and subsequent champion performances, like in the case of Virgil van Dijk or through sheer brilliance like in the case of Matthijs de Ligt.
It has often been said that good attackers win you matches but good defenders win you titles. In the Premier League, this saying has been shown to be true by the two teams challenging for the title. Manchester City have lost just 4 games this season and have conceded only 22 goals in 34 matches. Liverpool have lost only one game so far and have conceded a miserly 20 goals in 35 matches. They also lead the Premier League in clean sheets.
In Europe, Liverpool have conceded just 9 goals in 10 matches even after playing twice against the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli, Bayern Munich and Porto. The improvement in the Liverpool defence has been credited to Klopp for balancing his heavy metal style of play and primarily to Virgil van Dijk who has been a colossus at the back and has looked unbeatable this season. His partner for the early part of the season was Joe Gomez who formed a solid partnership with him, keeping 8 clean sheets in 12 starts before suffering from a severe ankle injury.
In his absence, Klopp ideally would have turned to his third choice centre-back, a rejuvenated Dejan Lovren. However, with Lovren not completely fit after the World Cup, Klopp started his then-fourth choice central defender, Joel Matip.
Matip's shaky performaces since joining Liverpool had thrown him down the pecking order and his future looked bleak. However, Klopp showed faith in him and Matip has definitely delivered. This season Matip has started 16 games in the Premier League and 5 games in the Champions League.
In those 16 starts, Liverpool have kept 8 clean sheets, conceding 11 goals. In Europe, with Matip starting, Liverpool have conceded only 4 goals. Arguably his best game in a Liverpool shirt was in the second leg against Bayern Munich when, even though he scored an unfortunate own goal with no fault of his own, he kept Robert Lewandowski quiet for 90 mins.
With Matip alongside Van Dijk, Liverpool have won 15 out of 21 matches and are yet to taste defeat. That is a win rate of 71.4%. Matip completes 2.2 tackles per 90 minutes with a success rate of 78.6%, the second highest in terms of central defenders for Liverpool. Although the number of tackles are not very high, it is mainly due to the style of play of the Liverpool backline where they try to intercept passes rather than sit behind and tackle.
Talking about interceptions, Matip makes 1.8 interceptions per 90. The Cameroonian was criticized for being too weak in the air for a centre back. However, this season he has put these doubts to rest by winning 70.2% of his aerial duels. He also has 3.3 clearances and 0.3 blocks per game.
These attributes and stats show that Matip has been solid defensively and has ably complemented Van Dijk. However, this season he has shown that side of his game that many did not know he had -- the long passing and superb dribbling that a few attackers might be envious of. He has an average of 60 passes per game, with a success rate of 84.5%. He also completes 2.7 long balls per 90. As far as dribbling goes, Matip dribbles out of defence, 0.35 times per 90 and hasn't been dispossessed even once.
When Joe Gomez got injured, the big question that plagued the club was regarding a solid replacement. Moreover, both Matip and Lovren did not fulfill the criteria of a solid defender based on their past outings. However, Matip has repaid the trust of his manager and the fans by continuing the immaculate defensive displays that Liverpool were credited with in the beginning of the season.
With Gomez back from injury, Matip still has kept his place in the starting XI and looks like this will be so till the end of the season. Agreed that overall he might be as good as Gomez but he has definitely proved his worth this season.
From a fourth choice centre-back to starting games week-in week-out, it has been an incredible journey so far for the defender after joining Liverpool from Schalke on a free transfer.
