"Totally wrong" - Michael Owen makes bold Liverpool claims amid struggle this season

Former Premier League star Michael Owen has weighed in on whether Liverpool need a massive rebuild at the end of the season amid their struggles this term.

The Englishman insists that the Reds haven't been as terrible as people think and shouldn't pursue a huge overhaul when the transfer window reopens in the summer.

The 2022-23 season has proven to be an underwhelming one for Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp's men entered the campaign sluggishly and have been made to pay for it as teams have taken turns to get points off them in the Premier League.

As it stands, the Reds occupy the sixth position in the table with 48 points in 27 games, having recorded 15 victories, three draws, and nine defeats. To make matters worse, the Merseysiders were recently eliminated from the UEFA Champions League after suffering a 6-2 defeat to Real Madrid on aggregate in the round of 16.

Liverpool's struggles have been attributed to multiple factors, including the loss of key players like Sadio Mane and the lack of squad depth. The Reds have been urged to go all out with a massive rebuild plan this summer but Michael Owen believes they have no cause to thread that path.

The Englishman insists that the team is still an elite side and blamed their struggles on their inconsistency. He also reminded everyone of what the group achieved last season. He told BT Sport (via Football365):

“When you talk to Liverpool fans, you say is it because [Sadio] Mane left? Is it because of all of the injuries? Then you’ve got confidence. Then people say it’s the owners and no investment, and the midfield’s ageing, and there’s so many different reasons. But this happens in football."

“Last season, only eight months ago, they were two games off being the most decorated team in history. Two games away. Not much has changed since then. And all of these people saying: ‘Let’s rip everything up and start again, buy new players,' and whatever. We have seen in patches, Liverpool have been brilliant this season; it’s the consistency."

Owen added:

“Jurgen Klopp, the players, the board, the fans, everything has been successful for years and years and years. This group of people have proven that they can win things. So to say, ‘Let’s just tear everything up,’ is totally wrong."

The former Liverpool forward went on to back Klopp to invest in his midfield during the summer transfer window to get his team back on track. He said:

“He [Klopp] knows they’re going to need to reinvest in the midfield area, he would have done that anyway and that’ll happen in the summer, but I think they deserve a bit of patience after what they’ve done over the last few years."

Virgil van Dijk urges Liverpool to sign quality reinforcements this summer

Liverpool center-back - Virgil van Dijk

Speaking in the wake of the 1-0 loss to Real Madrid on Wednesday (15 March), Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk called on the Merseysiders to sign quality reinforcements when the transfer window reopens this summer. The Dutchman said:

"Obviously, players are going to leave. That’s obviously been announced, so we have to, if we want to be where we have been the last five years, we need quality imports, especially with those players leaving. I think that’s quite obvious but everyone knows that’s going to be very difficult."

"It is going to be very difficult to find the right players, but the club has to do their job in this case."