Former Liverpool defender and BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson says the Reds need to choose a defensive system which suits their players and the rigours of Premier League football.
Liverpool have often been criticised for employing a zonal making system when defending set-pieces and Lawrenson believes it is now time manager Rafa Benitez used a hybrid way of defending.
The former Republic of Ireland international, who made 332 appearances in his time in Liverpool, says a hybrid system is not too dissimilar to how the Reds defended when he graced the Anfield turf.
"You need a system which is a hybrid and means you have certain players in certain positions," Lawrenson told BBC Radio Merseyside.
"I remember in my day, Ronnie Whelan would mark the middle of the six-yard box and never pick anybody up - that was his job. Then we'd have two people on the post and the rest of us just picked our men up.
"Basically in many ways its fool-proof. If you mark your man and you stop him from getting the ball or you make it difficult for him, if you all do that job, it's very difficult for teams to score against you.
"Whereas nowadays, with the zonal thing, somebody just gets half a yard on the marker, and because of the way the balls are delivered into the box now, it's good night. It's a goal again.
"I do think it's a hybrid thing. If you're [Martin] Skrtel, [Daniel] Agger and [Jamie] Carragher, you mark their best headers of the ball and you make sure they don't get onto the ball. So I don't really get it.
"It's just a mixture of man marking and zonal and I think it can be done."
Despite having suffered two league defeats this season by Tottenham and Aston Villa, Lawrenson believes his former side can still challenge for the Premier League title.
"I think the top four teams Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United - it may well be a season were you can afford to lose a couple more games," he continued. "I think that's the way it started, Chelsea apart.
"I think it looks like we're a little taken a back by Xabi Alonso leaving [to Real Madrid] and we started a bit sluggishly. But the results since have been very good."
Liverpool have often been criticised for employing a zonal making system when defending set-pieces and Lawrenson believes it is now time manager Rafa Benitez used a hybrid way of defending.
The former Republic of Ireland international, who made 332 appearances in his time in Liverpool, says a hybrid system is not too dissimilar to how the Reds defended when he graced the Anfield turf.
"You need a system which is a hybrid and means you have certain players in certain positions," Lawrenson told BBC Radio Merseyside.
"I remember in my day, Ronnie Whelan would mark the middle of the six-yard box and never pick anybody up - that was his job. Then we'd have two people on the post and the rest of us just picked our men up.
"Basically in many ways its fool-proof. If you mark your man and you stop him from getting the ball or you make it difficult for him, if you all do that job, it's very difficult for teams to score against you.
"Whereas nowadays, with the zonal thing, somebody just gets half a yard on the marker, and because of the way the balls are delivered into the box now, it's good night. It's a goal again.
"I do think it's a hybrid thing. If you're [Martin] Skrtel, [Daniel] Agger and [Jamie] Carragher, you mark their best headers of the ball and you make sure they don't get onto the ball. So I don't really get it.
"It's just a mixture of man marking and zonal and I think it can be done."
Despite having suffered two league defeats this season by Tottenham and Aston Villa, Lawrenson believes his former side can still challenge for the Premier League title.
"I think the top four teams Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United - it may well be a season were you can afford to lose a couple more games," he continued. "I think that's the way it started, Chelsea apart.
"I think it looks like we're a little taken a back by Xabi Alonso leaving [to Real Madrid] and we started a bit sluggishly. But the results since have been very good."
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