View: 96% Sepp van den Berg could be perfect for Liverpool this season
Liverpool defender Sepp van den Berg could be perfect for Arne Slot and Liverpool this season.
The defender is coming off the back of a Bundesliga season where he topped the charts and was a key cog in ensuring Mainz’s survival.
The defender has been continuously linked with an Anfield exit this summer with VfB Stuttgart among those interested in acquiring his services [Eidhovens Dagblad, 23 July].
However, as per his involvement in the Reds’ pre-season tour so far, it feels as if Slot is weighing up the option of keeping the Dutchman amongst his ranks rather than selling up.
Whilst many may see the former Preston loanee as someone who needs to go, keeping the 22-year-old could help Liverpool’s defensive issues and perhaps even offer them different tactical options throughout the season.
Jurgen Klopp even labelled the Dutchman a “big talent” before his resignation as Liverpool manager.
Sepp van den Berg’s pre-season game against Arsenal in numbers
Liverpool managed to triumph over fellow Premier League side Arsenal 2-1 during the club’s pre-season tour of the USA.
This was the first glimpse of ‘Slot ball’ that fans got and of all those on the pitch, Van den Berg was one of the players that impressed the most.
As per Sofascore, the defender played 72 minutes against Arsenal and made a total of three clearances, one interception and was only dribbled past once.
Throughout the tie, the Dutchman faced five duels altogether and won 40 per cent of them.
The 22-year-old had 56 touches during the tie and had a whopping 96 per cent pass accuracy during the minutes he was on the pitch.
In addition to his defensive contribution, the former Mainz men felt like quite a progressive defender.
As shown by his heatmap, Van Den Berg often travelled forward when a gap opened itself up.
This is in line with the Reds’ tactics from the past few seasons and shows that he could easily adapt if needed to do so.
Whilst these totals don’t look all that glamorous, when compared to Jarell Quansah, who also started the tie, the numbers seem a lot stronger.
Quansah lost possession of the ball six more times than that of Van Den Berg (8) and even totalled a pass accuracy of just 83 per cent.
Liverpool need to integrate Sepp van den Berg into their squad
Since the end of last season, it’s been evident that Liverpool need to recruit another centre-back to add to their ranks.
Joel Matip exited upon the expiry of his contract and Ibrahima Konate has been somewhat unreliable over the last couple of seasons.
Joe Gomez and Quansah are also centre-back options for Slot this season but after his performances in full-back last season, it feels as if Gomez would be more effective in either left or right-back this term.
However, rather than using the vast majority of the club’s transfer budget on someone such as Marc Guehi [Fabrizio Romano, 15 July], it could be worthwhile for the club to consider adding Sepp van den Berg to the first-team fold.
All in all, despite the Reds being one of the only Premier League teams to not yet add a player to their ranks, it could be worthwhile for the club to spread their money across the team rather than focus on solely bringing in a centre-back this summer.
In other Liverpool news, the Reds have rejected a bid for Wataru Endo.
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