Out of the UEFA Champions League, out of the FA Cup, and sitting in sixth in the Premier League.
It’s fair to say that the 2022/23 season hasn’t gone to plan for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, who came within a wisker of winning the quadruple last season.
So, how do the Reds find a way back to the top of European football?
That’s the question we at 90min enlisted Liverpool legend Emile Heskey to answer on our YouTube channel.
“It’s just been a rollercoaster season, with ups and downs. You want something to just go steadily up.
“Injuries have been an issues, as has not replacing Sadio Mane, and you really realise that when when players like that leave how much you actually needed them.
“When you get rid of players it’s about bringing players in who can pick you back up but, inevitably, when you are bringing signings in you have to give them time to settle in. This league is relentless. Even Thierry Henry wasn’t great when he first came [to Arsenal], Patrick Vieira wasn’t great when he first came either, but they were able to become Premier League legends.”
“The recruitment team will be looking at the ages of all the players in that midfield and assessing where they fit for the next two, five, ten years. They’ll be assessing what sort of football Liverpool need to play and who is out there that fits that style that they can bring in.
“I think [Naby] Keita’s not fulfilled the potential that they thought he had, so you need to go out and get someone who can fit that bill right now. It’s going to be tough, they’re going to have to spend a bit of money.”
“Jude definitely fits that bill. Jude would fit the bill for a lot of clubs.
“You hope that Liverpool can be the ones at the top of that list because you look at what he could achieve there. When you think of what Cristiano Ronaldo did by going to Real Madrid in his prime, and people thought ‘why’s he going to Real Madrid?’ but he saw an opportunity to be the man to take the club back to the top – it could be the same situation for Jude [choosing Liverpool].”
“The more players they can get in the better, because the reality is if you only get one and that’s Jude Bellingham, and he’s the only one everyone’s going to be say ‘well he hasn’t really made a difference’.
“He needs players around him. You probably need three midfielders, and I’d say you still need probably two defenders as well.”
Credit: 90min.com
