Nathaniel Clyne; Trent Alexander-Arnold; Joe Gomez; Andy Robertson; Alberto Moreno; Virgil van Dijk; Dejan Lovren; Joel Matip; Ragnar Klavan<\/strong><\/p>\n Georginio Wijnaldum; James Milner; Naby Keita; Jordan Henderson; Adam Lallana; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; Xherdan Shaqiri; Fabinho<\/strong><\/p>\n Roberto Firmino; Sadio Man\u00e9; Mohamed Salah; Daniel Sturridge; Divock Origi; Danny Ings; Dominic Solanke; Rhian Brewster<\/strong><\/p>\n That list doesn\u2019t include youth prospects like Ben Woodburn, Connor Randall or Marko Grujic, but their absence is balanced out by the presence of lads such as Ings and Origi who are almost certainly going to be sold before the summer is out. Now on the surface, that looks like a decent enough squad. When you dig a little deeper, however, there are definitely some weaknesses.<\/p>\n mooinblack \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n Let\u2019s start with the defence. I can absolutely understand J\u00fcrgen Klopp\u2019s reluctance to go into the market for a new centre-back when you consider that we have four senior defenders for the middle of the pitch and a youngster in Joe Gomez who is apparently being primed for the position. Yet it\u2019s well documented that Joel Matip isn\u2019t particularly reliable when it comes to his fitness, missing most of last season with a problem and picking up another muscle strain on the pre-season tour.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s Dejan Lovren, a man who is rarely out for long but is often unavailable for selection thanks to viruses, colds and muscles problems. Can we really afford to go into next season with just one senior centre-back in Virgil van Dijk who can be relied upon? Especially given how long he was out injured for when he had a serious issue during his Southampton days. Both Ragnar Klavan and Joe Gomez have had slight problems in the past, too. Cobbling together a defence from that if two or three of them are injured at the same time, which isn\u2019t out of the realms of the possible, will be a worrying task.<\/p>\n By Granada [CC BY-SA 4.0 <\/a>], from Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p><\/div>As for the goalkeepers, everyone is delighted by the signing of Alisson Becker from Roma for a world-record fee. All of the talk I\u2019ve heard about him is exciting and I think he might be the best decision we could\u2019ve made this summer. The issue comes in the form of the club\u2019s number two, with Simon Mignolet neither good enough to fill the role nor likely to stick around for very long now that he knows he definitely won\u2019t become our number one again. As for Loris Karius, he seems to be all over the show in terms of his mentality after his Champions League errors and few supporters, to say nothing of him teammates, will be happy at the idea of him coming in at any point during the year ahead.<\/p>\n The midfield probably looks like our strongest area, but I\u2019m not entirely convinced by some aspects of it. We\u2019ve begun to hear the old cliche of Adam Lallana being \u2018like a new signing\u2019, but I don\u2019t think he\u2019s got the legs to cope with a full season of playing Klopp\u2019s football and his injury record of late has been found wanting. I\u2019m equally unsure of James Milner\u2019s ability to put in a full season, bearing in mind that he only really came into the team regularly in the second-half of the last campaign. Add in the injury to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and you\u2019re asking an awful lot of the four other players when you look at the four tournaments we\u2019ll be playing in and the fact that Shaqiri isn\u2019t a midfielder in the typical sense.<\/p>\n By \u0410\u043d\u0442\u043e\u043d \u0417\u0430\u0439\u0446\u0435\u0432 (https:\/\/www.soccer.ru\/galery\/1055626\/photo\/733817) [CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL<\/a>, CC BY-SA 3.0 <\/a> or GFDL<\/a>], via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p><\/div>Last but not least comes our striking options. Everyone knows that the front three are amongst the best in the world, but the drop off if they get injured is alarming. Daniel Sturridge was once a brilliant striker, but he just doesn\u2019t have the pace to threaten in the same way as the others now. It\u2019s always tricky to judge in pre-season, but he looks like he\u2019s running through treacle. He\u2019s still got the brain for it, so I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if Klopp wants to turn him into a Coutinho-type player. But to come in and replace Roberto Firmino if the Brazilian was out injured for any length of time? I\u2019m not convinced.<\/p>\n I genuinely believe that this is Liverpool\u2019s best chance in a long while of winning the title if we get a fair wind behind us. I love how our squad is shaping up and can understand why the manager might be reluctant to make too many purchases. Yet the reality is that even without a major injury we still look like the drop-off is far too much in certain areas. I want a squad that looks capable of competing across the board, so I hope that J\u00fcrgen Klopp\u2019s statement that we\u2019re done with our business for the summer is just bluster. Let\u2019s not have another year when we feel as though just one or two more signings might have made the difference.<\/p>\n The big question, of course, is about how our squad might shape up when the window has closed. Are there even any rumours about possible incomings? How about those that are likely to depart? Here\u2019s what the press are saying about both cases:<\/p>\n The manager might have said that our work is done, but that isn\u2019t stopping the press from linking us with people. Here are the ones that they think will sell the most papers.<\/p>\n There\u2019s an argument that Christian Pulisic is the most Liverpool Under FSG Player that there could possibly be. He\u2019s young, which ticks everyone\u2019s box, he is at Borussia Dortmund, so J\u00fcrgen Klopp knows him, and he\u2019s going to be an American superstar, so the owners will be delighted. That he scored twice and created the third goal in our friendly against the German side is unlikely to have gone unnoticed in Boston. Since then, more and more noises about the player have been emanating from the people around him. Pulisic\u2019s own father has stated today that the twenty-year-old has \u2018always aspired to play in the Premier League\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n 70m euros for Pulisic? Yes please.<\/p>\n Outrageously talented player, 19, so got loads of room for development, massive marketing potential in the States. I get the feeling FSG would be on board too given that he’s the biggest talent that America has ever produced.<\/p>\n \u2014 Lemuel (@LHervie14) July 26, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Dejan-Lovren-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-600x400.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/800px-20180610_FIFA_Friendly_Match_Austria_vs._Brazil_850_1625-267x400.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:20180610_FIFA_Friendly_Match_Austria_vs._Brazil_850_1625.jpg\")
The Runners And Riders Of The Rumour Mill<\/h2>\n
The Ins?<\/h3>\n
Christian Pulisic<\/h4>\n
\n
![via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p><\/div>Last but not least comes our striking options. Everyone knows that the front three are amongst the best in the world, but the drop off if they get injured is alarming. Daniel Sturridge was once a brilliant striker, but he just doesn\u2019t have the pace to threaten in the same way as the others now. It\u2019s always tricky to judge in pre-season, but he looks like he\u2019s running through treacle. He\u2019s still got the brain for it, so I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if Klopp wants to turn him into a Coutinho-type player. But to come in and replace Roberto Firmino if the Brazilian was out injured for any length of time? I\u2019m not convinced.<\/p>\nI genuinely believe that this is Liverpool\u2019s best chance in a long while of winning the title if we get a fair wind behind us. I love how our squad is shaping up and can understand why the manager might be reluctant to make too many purchases. Yet the reality is that even without a major injury we still look like the drop-off is far too much in certain areas. I want a squad that looks capable of competing across the board, so I hope that J\u00fcrgen Klopp\u2019s statement that we\u2019re done with our business for the summer is just bluster. Let\u2019s not have another year when we feel as though just one or two more signings might have made the difference.<\/p>\nThe Runners And Riders Of The Rumour Mill<\/h2>\nThe big question, of course, is about how our squad might shape up when the window has closed. Are there even any rumours about possible incomings? How about those that are likely to depart? Here\u2019s what the press are saying about both cases:<\/p>\nThe Ins?<\/h3>\nThe manager might have said that our work is done, but that isn\u2019t stopping the press from linking us with people. Here are the ones that they think will sell the most papers.<\/p>\nChristian Pulisic<\/h4>\nThere\u2019s an argument that Christian Pulisic is the most Liverpool Under FSG Player that there could possibly be. He\u2019s young, which ticks everyone\u2019s box, he is at Borussia Dortmund, so J\u00fcrgen Klopp knows him, and he\u2019s going to be an American superstar, so the owners will be delighted. That he scored twice and created the third goal in our friendly against the German side is unlikely to have gone unnoticed in Boston. Since then, more and more noises about the player have been emanating from the people around him. Pulisic\u2019s own father has stated today that the twenty-year-old has \u2018always aspired to play in the Premier League\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n70m euros for Pulisic? Yes please.<\/p>\nOutrageously talented player, 19, so got loads of room for development, massive marketing potential in the States. I get the feeling FSG would be on board too given that he’s the biggest talent that America has ever produced.<\/p>\n\u2014 Lemuel (@LHervie14) July 26, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n](\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Xherdan_Shaqiri_2018.jpg\"){kind=link}