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Arne Slot spoke at a press conference on Friday ahead of Liverpool's participation in the Community Shield. Apart from breaking his silence on Alexander Isak, he also addressed the situation at the heart of his defense.
While not ruling out further business, Slot was somewhat bullish on his existing options. Andy Robertson, Wataru Endo, and Trey Nyoni have all been pressed into action at center-back over the course of preseason, but the manager insisted these were all legitimate options.
"They can play there as well, and you forget to mention Joe Gomez," Slot told a reporter. "He will be back with the team very soon. We have numerous options that can play there.
"I'm really happy with the players we have. We have numerous players that can play in the position."
Such staunch defense of the existing options is no bad thing. Indeed, it's reminiscent of the Jurgen Klopp era.
However, it's hard to get on board with Slot's assessment; Liverpool looks at least one man light at the back, with the new season almost upon us. In another world, one of the heroes of Klopp's time at the helm might have been the perfect solution.
Joel Matip turned 34 on Friday. He is exactly one month younger than Virgil van Dijk, who recently signed an extension to keep him at Anfield for another two years, and yet the Cameroonian has hung up his boots altogether.
In the end, it came down to injuries. His final six months at Liverpool were spent on the sidelines, after which Matip made the decision to call it a day.
In one sesne, that was a sadly fitting end to his career, given how much he was dogged by fitness setbacks. But it would be verging on criminal to consider that to be Matip's legacy.
Matip in his prime would solve Slot's center-back headache at a stroke. Indeed, he would bump Ibrahima Konate from the line-up, reclaiming his rightful place alongside Van Dijk — even in his final years at the club, the gangling defender was keeping Liverpool's succession plan at bay, demanding minutes ahead of the Frenchman by the sheer class of his performances.
Ultimately, it felt fitting that he retired at the end of the Klopp era, because few others better symbolize the German's time at the helm. Signed in his first full summer as a free transfer from Schalke, Matip was there for almost the entire journey, winning it all along the way.
The only thing denying him the wider acclaim he deserves is his injury record. In his eight years at Anfield, he was limited to 201 appearances.
But in almost every one of those appearances, he oozed class. When fit, he was every bit as important as Van Dijk, worthy of recongition as an equal partner in their miserly record when playing together.
In his eight Premier League seasons with Liverpool, Matip made just three errors leading to goals. Five of his campaigns were completely blemish-free in this regard.
And as well as being a bastion of reliability in a defensive sense, Matip was a genuinely unique weapon in Klopp's attacking build-up. In some of the team's tougher moments, he was effectively the only reliable strategy for breaking through a deep-lying defense.
As a defender, how do you deal with the opposition center-back loping up the pitch with a kind of awkward grace, advancing on the penalty area with a sense of inevitability? Nobody had ever been briefed to pick him up — and anyone stepping out to engage was at serious risk of being beaten by a drop of Matip's shoulder.
To the wider Premier League, he was something of a figure of fun for his clumsy gait and his adventures up the field. But the unorthodox aesthetics masked a genuinely massive offensive weapon.
And he found time for these forays while still providing remarkably reliable cover for Trent Alexander-Arnold. He couldn't have had half of his assists without Matip, taking up none of the spotlight but quietly enabling the full-back to do his best work.
As he assesses the state of his defense, Slot could only dream of having someone like prime Matip. Instead, all we can do is wish the happiest of birthdays to a true Liverpool legend.
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