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Liverpool is a great side, with the likes of Alisson, Van Dijk and Salah, just to mention a few. With Klopp they also have a great manager with a good philosophy to lead the squad towards greater heights. The only issue is, it does not seem to work out just yet.
After three and a half years there is no league trophy at Anfield. The Reds often seem to run out of steam at the tail-end of every competition and therefore often "choke" their opportunities.
There are 4 things that need a change, before Liverpool can celebrate silverware again:
1. Get a center-back who is good enough to back up either Van Dijk or Joe Gomez
The fans also seem to forget how good Joe Gomez was before the unfortunate injury to his ankle in December. He is yet to come back and during these four months of absence he has gotten replaced by either Matip or Lovren. The former does a very good job, but is not seen as the future of the club. The Croatian on the other hand could not tie on the good form from last season and is on a huge decline since then.
As Matip also seems to be more happy about being a backup then Lovren is, the older of the duo should be sold. With a transfer value of £27 million, Klopp could cash in on the Croatian. The money should be invested in a younger 3rd center back who may even fight with Gomez for a starting spot.
A sizeable budget of £30 million, which is partially financed by Lovren’s sale should be enough to procure a young defensively competent center-back, who remains strong on the ball. The most experienced option is Jason Denayer. The ex-City player really turned up for Lyon over the last two seasons, not only putting in great performances in the Ligue 1 but also in the Champions League.
He got a passing accuracy of 93.4% and gets dribbled past only 0.2 times per 90. The only issue remains his size of 184cm, which makes him less intimidating and dominant in the air than his potential partner Van Dijk. Apart from that there's no doubt that the transfer value of £26 million is justified.
Another great option could be Nico Elvedi. The biggest of them all at 189cm is also the youngest player on the shortlist, aged 22. The Swiss puts in similar numbers to Denayer (92.4% pass.acc. and 0.3 times dribbled/90) and can also cover as defensive fullback on either side.
Another small plus would be that he can speak to his coach in German. A small negative is his lack of experience in the Champions League as he has only played eight games, in the 15/16 and 16/17 season. With some good negotiations, you could just squeeze Elvedi into the £30 million budget.
The last may also be the cheapest option. Karim Rekik is another ex-Skyblue, who is right now playing in Berlin, Germany and as a Dutch could communicate well with Van Dijk. He puts in slightly worse numbers then the others to (87.1% pass.acc. and 0.4 times dribbled/90), but aged 24 he could still improve those numbers. Valued around £15 million, he could turn out to be a great bargain.
As a surprise option, Klopp could go for a free transfer in Neven Subotic, who already played under him at BVB or Daniel Schwaab, another fellow German from PSV.
2. Get some full-back cover
In Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, the Reds got two insanely talented starting full-backs in their defence. They both are very consistent and probably will not be replaced any time soon. A big issue remains that behind them there is no other solid option who could replace them in case of injury, a ban or exhaustion.
While James Milner often played this role, it showed in this season, that he got just too old to cope with the insanely fast and tricky wingers in the EPL. Moreno on the other hand is just not good enough and will leave the club at the end of the season anyway.
Liverpool may not be seen spending more than £20 million on either of those backups.
For the left-back position, two rather young options are possible. First is the homegrown Matt Targett from Southampton. While he may lack a little bit in the defensive part of the game (with only 1.8 tackles and interceptions, while being dribbled past once per game), he is a threat going forward. His 1.6 key passes and 1.6 crosses per 90 are quite good for a full-back, as he likes to sprint up and down the left side. He also just made one error leading to a goal in his whole Premier League career.
Aaron Martin is a Spaniard, just as Moreno, but puts up already better numbers than him. Being very strong on the ball, he creates 1.9 key passes and 1.6 crosses per game. Despite that, he is also very solid in defense, being dribbled just 0.4 times per 90 minutes. He is another player who is likes to run a lot on his side of the pitch. Both should be available for around £15 million
For the right back position, one name comes to my mind: Bouna Sarr. The 27-year-old currently plays for Olymipique Marseille. There he turned up and is right now one of the best right-backs in the league. Putting in 2.4 tackles and 1.4 interception per game, while only being dribbled 0.6 times per 90 minutes, he proves to be very solid defensively. Another great stat is his 85.4% pass accuracy, combined with the 1.1 key passes and 0.9 crosses per 90 minutes. He could potentially leave the Velodrome for about £10 million.
3. Buy a creative midfielder
Maybe the biggest issue in this Liverpool squad, could be the lack of a creative midfielder. Naby Keita was brought in the summer to fill the huge gap, but just does not seem ready to establish himself in the EPL just yet.
As Georginio Wijnaldum also does not seem like a true playmaker either, they both should focus on being the tackler in the midfield. With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain just coming back from injury, a new star midfielder needs to be brought in.
One of the hottest players in Europe seems to be the solution: Hakim Ziyech. A great central-midfielder, who already scored 14 goals and contributed 10 further assists in the Eredivisie. The Moroccan makes 3.8 key passes and shoots furthermore 5.5 times a game. He is dispossessed quite often for a midfielder at 2.7 times but also makes the same amount of dribbles.
This number is only comparable to the likes of Pogba, who sucures one dribble less per game. He won the “Player of the season” award in the Netherlands last years and is in a good position to do the same again. If he should manage to do this, he would join the exclusive club of De Boer, Gullit, Van Nistelrooy, Koeman and Van Bommel, who were the only players to do this in the history of the award.
If he manages to transfer his magnificent form to the Premier League, which is very possible, he is worth every penny of his £50 million value.
4. Bring a backup for Mane and Firmino
Just as the full-backs, the trio of Mane, Firmino and Salh will not be replaced anytime soon. Also like their defensive counterparts, they do not have competent backup to put themselves on the scoresheet if any of the three misses a game. On the right side, Shaqiri has proven his value and definitely is a worthy replacement.
Origi and Sturridge do not cut it at such a high level and at least one of them has to leave the club at the end of the season. A player who is able to play on the left and in the center of attack would be perfect. This profile is quite difficult to find and usually consists of players that are too good to only be second choice.
Ante Rebic is the first option for this profile. The Croatian international plays for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. He is listed as a left-midfielder in both squads but already played 70 games in the forward or second striker position. He is a big threat on the counter and plays also quite aggressive off the ball, with an average of 2.2 fouls per game.
Despite that, Rebic copes quite well with the ball on his feet, dribbling 2 opponents a game, as well as making 2.1 shots and 1 key pass in the same time. Where he lacks the most is his passing: Only 56% of 15.6 passes per 90 reach the teammate. This poor number could also be due to the playing style of Frankfurt, as they very often play risky through balls to their offensive guns.
The other player making the list is Diogo Jota. He already participated in 10 goals in his first Premier League season. He usually starts from the left-wing, but also has a history in the center forward position, where he played around 50 games of his young career. He might be less dangerous than Rebic with "only" 1.4 shots and 0.9 key passes per 90 to his name. However, the Wolves player is superior on the ball as he manages to get a 73.2% passing accuracy, while making around 22 passes a game.
Both of these players are valued around £40 million and depending on what Klopp is looking for, definitely worth a look at.
