Manchester United legend Gary Neville has said that Liverpool lack quality in their defensive midfield position and that could prevent them from mounting a title charge this season.
After enduring a dire campaign last term, the Reds decided to revamp their engine room and purchase Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch in the recently concluded summer window.
However, despite splashing almost £150m this summer, they didn’t manage to bolster their number six position. Jurgen Klopp’s side prioritised signing Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia to strengthen the holding midfield position, but they missed out on signing both of them to Chelsea before opting to acquire Endo’s signature from Stuttgart.
However, the Japanese hasn’t been able to win the trust of Klopp yet as the German boss has been deploying Mac Allister, who is more comfortable playing in the box-to-box role, in the defensive midfield position.
Now, speaking on his podcast, Neville has said that he feels Liverpool don’t have enough solidity in midfield and defence to challenge for the title and a world-class midfielder like Rodri or Declan Rice would certainly make them a title contender.
Liverpool need reinforcements
However, the pundit states that Liverpool have an excellent manager in Klopp so they are certainly one of the contenders for the title this season.
Neville said:
“If you put Declan Rice in Liverpool’s holding midfield position or you put Rodri in there, I would be saying Liverpool would definitely be on for the title. My question mark is whether they have enough solidity in midfield, enough defensive strength and power.
“I don’t think Liverpool will quite get there, but they are in the race, there’s no doubt, because of the manager. The manager is absolutely outstanding.”
After letting Fabinho leave the club this summer, Liverpool didn’t manage to sign a top-class deep-lying playmaker to replace the Brazilian. So, Liverpool should look to do that in January to reinforce their engine room and help Klopp challenge on all fronts this season.
The Merseyside club have started the season promisingly, accumulating 17 points from eight games and sitting only three points behind the league leaders Tottenham Hotspur.
So, they are in the title race and adding more reinforcements in January will enhance their chance of achieving their lofty ambitions this term.
However, it is going to be interesting to see whether Liverpool eventually opt to make a concrete approach to sign a new holding midfielder in the upcoming transfer window.
