Liverpool are currently going through a difficult period in the Premier League.
Jurgen Klopp’s men currently sit 16 points off the top spot – something unheard of for a club like Liverpool. Clearly something has to change at Liverpool in the next few months, as they’re showing no signs of being even capable of qualifying for the Champions League.
In an exclusive interview with CaughtOffside, Stan Collymore has listed the three reasons why he believes Liverpool are struggling, and what needs to change at Anfield.
“Firstly, address the players getting older. Virgil van Dijk, Jordan Henderson, Thiago, Roberto Firmino, even Mohamed Salah. Where Manchester City had Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho, they moved them on swiftly when they knew they couldn’t hit the heights they used to. They had a plan with players coming through ready to replace them and perform immediately.
Secondly, you remember Pep Guardiola holding Phil Foden back. Drip feeding him in, brought him in at the right time and bingo. You can’t do that at Liverpool at the moment due to injuries. Harvey Elliot has come in, probably before his time. He had an injury last season that held him back and now he’s in the team. You see two youngsters in Foden and Elliot of similar abilities. Of course, Foden is miles ahead, but that’s the difference in the youth you’ve got and the timing. Whose coming through? Fabio Carvalho is not ready, Luis Diaz is injured.
Then, there’s the elephant in the room for Liverpool Football Club, the owners. I think there’s an easy solution and that’s FSG either sell a minority stake in the club to an external buyer or selling the club to a buyer with the kind of resources that Newcastle and Manchester City have. Liverpool have a large fan base in Scandinavia and Norway in particular that fly to games. I think if Liverpool and FSG were clever, instead of saying they’re going to sell to the Saudi’s for example, go around to countries who have sovereign wealth fund but also have ethical ways of dealing with their politics, which Norway certainly does, and ask if they want to buy Liverpool. Liverpool then get the funding they need moving forward and that’s the way I think football clubs can match the clubs with Middle Eastern influence.”
The issue for Liverpool is they’re constantly being compared to Manchester City. Liverpool of course were the best team in the Premier League for a season, but Manchester City have all the resources to dominate England now for the foreseeable future.