Rafa Benitez feels the loss of Daniel Agger to injury had a crucial affect on Liverpool's Premier League aspirations this season.
The Reds boss is concerned at the number of goals his team conceded from set pieces and will be hoping the Danish defender comes back from his injury lay-off better than ever.
On reflection, the Spanish coach feels his squad is in a better shape than this time last year although he is still keen to make additions during the close season.
"The squad is better and we have a better team," Benitez told LFC TV in an exclusive interview.
"We nearly got to the final of the Champions League.
"This year we have improved a lot. We signed two or three really good players, and also players who've been good for the squad.
When asked if he regretted missing out on Gabriel Heinze, who joined Real Madrid instead, he said: "Yes, I think so (that the lack of defensive cover cost us).
"We conceded goals at the end of games and drew. The centre backs, Carra (Jamie Carragher) and Sami (Hyypia), were playing too many games.
"Sometimes Jack Hobbs or Alvaro Arbeloa played but we clearly missed Agger. Agger is a centre back who can play the ball, he is a threat to the opposition.
"We have a lot of good players and we also have some really good young players. This is important. I think we have the spine of the team next season and now we need to add players in certain positions.
"We have analysed a lot of things this year. For example, we have conceded a lot of goals from set pieces. We need to understand why because last season we conceded six, now it's 16, yet we're doing more or less the same things.
"We can improve in this area. We also need to keep the team scoring in open play while at the same time improving a little bit in defence. We have been really good in defence for three of four years, but I think we need to improve a little bit if we want to be at the top of the table."
