In consecutive weeks, Manchester United then Arsenal drove nails deep into Liverpool’s Champions League coffin.

The Merseyside ‘Reds’ now sit in fifth place and have seven points separating them and fourth placed Manchester City.

For various reasons, Liverpool haven’t been able to match last terms success and now their dreams of consecutive Champions League appearances lie in tatters.

That failing could be extremely costly to the club come the summer.

Ageing captain Steven Gerrard will depart for LA Galaxy on a free. He may now be thirty-four but Gerrard is still capable at Premier League level, he’s scored six times this season. The man is a Liverpool icon and will be almost irreplaceable.

The one man currently in the Liverpool squad who looks most likely to step into Gerrard’s boots and armband is Jordan Henderson. He too has six league strikes and he also has seven assists to his name. But Henderson’s contract runs out at the end of next season and could be interesting Champions League sides. That could be a tempting prospect for England’s Henderson.

Raheem Sterling’s contract saga continues. He has a deal that lasts until 2017, but supposedly the talented youngster has turned down a new offer of £100k plus ro stay on at Anfield. The uncertainty surrounding Liverpool’s prize asset has created a dark cloud that hangs over the whole club. With Arsenal, Man City and Real Madrid heavily linked with the twenty-year old, is it possible he could leave for around £50m this summer?

The club need to look at how they’ve allowed these star players contracts to run down. Both Gerrard and Sterling have suggested that had they been offered new deals last summer (when Liverpool had qualified for the Champions League) then they’d have signed on. It makes sense as the club were on the up! So why weren’t they on the table?

Also by throwing cash at Sterling in order for him to sign a new deal, it puts other players noses out of joint. For example, I doubt Henderson will accept anything under £100k a week now. He’ll feel that he’s just as valuable as Sterling and that Liverpool need him more now that Gerrard is leaving.

Now if both Sterling and Henderson remain stubborn and continue to reject those contract extensions, Liverpool will have to decide whether they can keep them and risk those contracts running down further.

Even if they can persuade those two stars to stay, Liverpool will still need to do some major squad reconstruction work this close season.

This campaign has proved that this pool don’t have enough about them to stay with the ‘Top Four’. Plus they are losing that inspiring captain.

Keeper Simon Mignolet has only shown up for half a season and he doesn’t instil confidence in those that play in front of him. Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers will have to seriously look for a world class number one to come in, possibly Chelsea’s Petr Cech.

The defence still needs to be looked at too.

Kolo Toure will always give his all but he’s reached a stage in his career that his all is no longer good enough, especially in the bigger fixtures.

A big question mark hangs over the head of summer recruit Dejan Lovren, the Croat hasn’t hit the heights expected of him since his £20m move from Southampton. The defender has produced erratic performances this season and that could force Rodgers into bringing in another big centre-back.

Full-back duo; Glen Johnson and Jose Enrique are two more players that don’t seem to offer enough throughout a season. That could see them replaced and offloaded during the summer transfer window.

In midfield, stalwart Lucas Leiva could be another player who could be sold on. Injuries have stalled his career at Anfield and it now looks as though he doesn’t have the legs for the rigours of the English Premier League (EPL). It could be better for the Brazilian to head off to Italy and resurrect his footballing life there.

Bringing in Rickie Lambert hasn’t really worked out. In 595 minutes in the EPL, the thirty-three year old has only managed to grab two strikes. His style doesn’t seem to compliment Rodgers preferred Liverpool style.

The signing of Mario Balotelli looks to be more and more of a panic buy and one that Brendan didn’t want to make. The Italian is an easy scapegoat and his style doesn’t lend itself to helping the team press or move along at pace. He doesn’t have the backing of his gaffer and Mario needs that to shine at any club. At £16m, many thought his transfer was a bargain but it can only be a bargain if he plays and then succeeds. He hasn’t played enough or offered enough to show he deserves to play more at the moment. Will the Reds be best served by cutting their losses on the hothead, maverick forward?

Liverpool obviously wanted rid of Fabio Borini last summer and can’t afford him to stay on for next term. The former Roma frontman is holding a squad place that Rodgers will be desperate to give to someone else by August.

A striker capable of helping out Daniel Sturridge and getting double figures in terms of goals scored needs to be brought in. I can’t see Divock Origi being that man, as I don’t believe he’s the finished article.

So the Liverpool scouting department need to be working hard at the moment identifying players that can come in and improve the current crop. The board also need to step up and lay the foundations to do deals as soon as the transfer window reopens. They also need to franticly find buyers for their unwanted personnel.

Another problem the club will have this summer though is getting the right people in. The fact that it looks extremely unlikely that they’ll have Champions League football next season could mean that they can’t get the really top players in this summer. That in turn could stop them from breaking into the Top Four again next year, it really can be a vicious cycle!

This season looks to be a big chance missed at Anfield.

The best way to describe what’s happened? Well its been one step forward and then two moves back. They really needed to push on from last term but an extremely poor start to the season seems to have cost them dear.

How dear? Well we’ll need to wait until the summer to find out that answer to that!

Posted on April 9th, 2015 by scott
Filed under: Article