There are still plenty of Liverpool supporters who are terrified of saying that the title is already over bar the shouting in case they managed to jinx something. Whilst I totally understand the fear, that attitude shows a remarkable lack of faith in a side that has lost one Premier League match in the past season and a half and conceded the same number of goals in the previous two months. The only way in which we could possibly not win the title now, needing the same Points Per Game as Everton have managed so far according to Andrew Beasley, is if we’re docked points for some reason. I don’t mind telling you that if we get docked points when Manchester City haven’t been then I’ll be giving up on football. That makes the situation somewhat win-win for me, given that we either win the title or I never watch a football match again. I’ve accepted that we’re going to become champions of England, simply waiting for that to happen now.
No matter how big your agenda is. No matter how many times you lie, twist or manipulate stats to suit your anti Liverpool agenda – we’re still going to win the league and there’s nothing you can do about it.
— Sensei Steph (@sensei_steph) February 10, 2020
Evertonians, Manchester United supporters and fans of clubs that aren’t actually our rivals but like to think they are such as Southampton and Manchester City might want to remember the words of Thanos in the film Avengers: Infinity War: “Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same”. That destiny right now is Liverpool’s first title win since the English top-flight was rebranded as the Premier League in the 1990s. There’s also a decent chance that we could go unbeaten, rack up more points than Pep Guardiola’s City side, win the Champions League and the FA Cup. They aren’t certainties in the same way as the league title is, of course, and at some point Jürgen Klopp might have to decide if he favours doing one over another in terms of team selection. The manager will surely also begin mulling over what, if anything, needs to be done to his squad during the summer in order to keep it in a winning frame of mind.
There’s A Difference Between What We Want And What We Need
The first thing that Jürgen Klopp, Michael Edwards and the backroom staff at Melwood will do in the coming weeks and months is sit down and consider what the club actually needs moving forward. That’s because there’s a massive difference between what we need and what supporters will want. Let’s be honest, the thought of signing the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Jadon Sancho and Timo Werner is thrilling to us fans, but will the manager see a space for them in the squad? With none of Mo Salah, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino likely to move on in the summer, there’s no real need to be spending hundreds of millions of pounds to buy players that won’t be definite starters. The signing of Takumi Minamino might well demonstrate a touch of forward planning by the Reds, but it was also a risk-free transfer given his remarkably low fee. The same cannot be said about any of the other names on the list.
@JamesMilner knows… 🤫@Liverpaul8 #mbappe2020 #askafootballer pic.twitter.com/9kEFR5PTTm
— BrezWorldLFC 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 (@BrezWorld) February 9, 2020
All three of them are young, of course, so there would be some future planning to an extent. Yet the reality is that Michael Edwards prides himself in finding the bargains over the big money buys, so I’m not convinced that the club will see the need to spend huge sums to strengthen. They aren’t averse to doing so, mind. Both Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker can attest to the fact that Fenway Sports Group are happy to sanction record purchases if there’s a need to do. The issue when it comes to Sancho, Mbappe and Werner is that there really isn’t the pressing need to sign any of them. For that reason we’re more likely to look at what we need this summer rather than what would tickle the fancy of the staff and supporters. On top of that there’s also the fact that we don’t actually need that much. The only question to answer is whether Jürgen Klopp feels that some players are getting bored of his messages and need to be freshened up.
Which Positions Can’t Be Strengthened From Within?
When the transfer window opens Jürgen Klopp will be keen to bring people in as soon as possible so that he’s got the summer to work with them. What he’ll want to know is which positions need have money spent on them in order to ensure that we’re good to go again next time out. There’s an argument that some of Man City’s issues this season have come from Pep Guardiola’s inability to admit his weaknesses. I don’t think Klopp suffers from the same problems and he’ll know whether any of the lads available to him are good enough to make the step up. A lot will depend on which ones want to leave too. Adam Lallana is likely to move on, so will Curtis Jones be good enough to take his place? Likewise, will Harvey Elliott be able to replace Xherdan Shaqiri if he chooses to call time on his Liverpool career? There are many unanswered that the manager will want to have answers to before he opens the chequebook.
Liverpool new summer target
Jack Grealish. #LFC pic.twitter.com/bvQQe7J7JF
— indykaila News (@indykaila) February 6, 2020
One of the names that has begun to be mentioned alongside Liverpool in terms of summer transfers is Jack Grealish. The Aston Villa man has impressed in a poor side, but would he be one that would add to this team? I think part of the reason that Gini Wijnaldum hasn’t been offered a new contract is that Klopp asks so much of his midfielders and he’s getting older. Is Grealish a player that could replicate what he does? I think that the area that is more in need of strengthening is defence, simply because both Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip have proven that they’re not reliable enough in terms of fitness this season. Neither Sepp van den Berg nor Ki-Jana Hoever are strong enough to take their place, whilst a good deputy to Andy Robertson would also be helpful. All of these are things that the manager will be thinking about in between trying to work out how we can become the greatest Premier League side ever. What a time to be a Red.
