5 players from the 2013/14 Liverpool squad who should have been retained

Aspas played only one season at Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool squad has seen a number of changes since he took over in October 2015. More or less, Liverpool have become a force to be reckoned with and enjoyed a great start to this season until they faltered at the start of the new calendar year.

However, in this list, we look at the squad, more specifically 5 players, that rallied the club as they went closest to winning a record 19th league title. These players played for Liverpool in that season which resulted in their best league finish in the Premier League era.

In the end, they narrowly lost the title to Manchester City by two points on the last day of the season. If some, if not all of these players were retained, Liverpool could had a stronger squad and variety in their game, and could have flourished under their German manager.

Here are the top 5 players they should have retained from that squad.


#5 Iago Aspas

The Spaniard Iago Aspas, was 25-years-old when he signed for Liverpool in 2013. He was bought for a meagre fee of £7.5 million from Celta Vigo and the player still had his best years ahead of him. He struggled at Liverpool, scoring just 1 goal in 14 appearances but perhaps to sell him after just one season was a mistake by the club. The same player went on to score 10 goals in 25 appearances for Sevilla in 2014-15 and 18 in 40 for Celta Vigo in 2015-16.

This season, he already has 15 goals, after going on a scoring streak of 13 goals in 13 games. If you follow La Liga or the Copa Del Rey, you’ll know that Aspas this season has been playing the best football of his career. He was instrumental in eliminating Real Madrid out of the Copa del Rey with his goals and brilliant play up-front that caused the Madrid defence a world of bother.

Needless to say, the player has managed to hit the best form of his career soon after his move from Anfield. Perhaps, if he was given more time at Anfield he could have become an instrumental squad player.

#4 Victor Moses

Moses was brought in on-loan by former Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers

Victor Moses was on loan at Liverpool in 2013-14 and played primarily as a winger under Brendan Rodgers. He scored 2 goals in 22 appearances then. Fast forward to 2016-17 and Moses has undergone a transformation under Antonio Conte, who has switched the winger to the wing-back position. The Nigerian international has quickly taken to the role spectacularly and has become a regular starter at wing-back for Chelsea. In the process, he has scored 4 goals from right-wing back already this season.

All the floundering winger needed was a manager to recognise his attributes and ability and maximise his potential as a wing-back instead of playing as an out and out winger. Jurgen Klopp could have perhaps been that manager before Conte. After all, the German has transformed James Milner into a wing back in a similar fashion.

Moses’ energy and enterprise down the flank as a wing-back could have helped Liverpool do serious damage to teams but they didn’t make the move permanent back then and their rivals Chelsea have benefited.

#3 Joe Allen

Allen moved to Stoke City at the start of this season

Joe Allen did stay at Liverpool even after Brendan Rodgers left, but was sold to Stoke before the start of this season for £13 million. This one might be debatable, but Allen is a good passer of the ball and has added a lot of hard work and energy to his game since being sold.

Last summer at Euro 2016, Allen was instrumental in supporting Aaron Ramsey in the middle of the park for his national side and was a key component of Wales’ dream run into the semi-finals of the tournament. Allen was also picked in the ‘UEFA Euro 2016 Team of the Tournament’ for his efforts for Wales. This season at Stoke City, the Welshman has already notched up 5 goals in the Premier League in 21 appearances – that’s better than he ever managed at Liverpool.

Allen is only 26-years-old currently and has his best years ahead of him, so maybe he could have supported Jordan Henderson in the Liverpool midfield with his renewed energy, dynamism and ability to keep the game ticking in midfield with key passes. It’s yet another case of Liverpool selling a player before his prime.

#2 Raheem Sterling

Sterling moved to Manchester City in 2015

Before his move to Manchester City worth an astonishing £50 million in 2015, Raheem Sterling was the golden boy of Liverpool. The winger was just 18-years-old when he debuted for Liverpool in 2012 and dazzled with his nightmarish speed and ability to run at defenders.

The winger scored 23 goals in 129 appearances for Liverpool, 10 of which came in 2013-14 and 11 of which came in 2014-15. Since his move to Manchester City, the Englishman has scored 17 goals in 75 games (a much quicker rate despite injury trouble) and seems to be improving considerably with time. He is only 22-years-old currently and has his whole career ahead of him.

The money did Liverpool some good, but Sterling on one flank and Sadio Mane on the other under Jurgen Klopp would have been a deadly force. It’s safe to say that the pair would have left Premier League defenders for dead with their direct running at break-neck speed, coupled with Klopp’s sustained pressure with his famed Gegenpressing tactics. Liverpool should surely learn to keep their best players at the club.

#1 Luis Suarez

Suarez is regarded as the best striker in the world

There is no shocker here. Luis Suarez is arguably the best striker in the world right now. The forward was spectacular in his last season for Liverpool scoring an amazing 31 goals in 33 games in the Premier League, becoming the first Liverpool player to net 30 goals or more in a season after Ian Rush in 1986-87.

He has scored a hat-trick every 20.3 Premier League games – the best rate of all 46 players to have scored more than one hat-trick – in the top tier, in the history of English top flight football. Suarez was the seventh player to score 30 goals in a Premier League season behind a list of great names – Andy Cole, Kevin Phillips, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robin Van Persie. He finished the 2013-14 season as the Premier League’s Golden Boot winner and the PFA Player of the year.

The statistics and awards could go on, but Suarez has been immense since his transfer to Barcelona as well, becoming part of the famed trio, dubbed ‘MSN’ with Lionel Messi and Neymar.

He has scored 105 goals in 125 games for Barcelona in two and a half seasons and shows no sign of slowing down. If only Liverpool still had Luis Suarez leading the forward line for them now under Jurgen Klopp, they would have perhaps won the league and more by now.


For a club like Liverpool with such a distinguished history, it is rather sad that they have failed to hold on to their best players. The club’s management and its board must seriously look at retaining their stand-out performers on the pitch to ensure the club can win big trophies consistently again, instead of chopping and changing all the time.

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Edited by Staff Editor