It’s never easy to taste defeat in a game like the Champions League final.

Liverpool will rue goalkeeping mistakes and the shoulder injury that curtailed star-man Mohamed Salah’s outing after just half an hour.

But in all seriousness, the English Premier League side can hold their heads up and look forward to the future as they have the foundations there to build a squad that can challenge for the top honours for years to come.

In Jurgen Klopp, they have a terrific manager. One who can spot the weaknesses in his side and deal with them. That’s what happened with the left-back and centre-back spots, yet they were fixed with the signings of Andrew Robertson and Virgil van Dijk.

The German coach will probably know that while good, Loris Karius isn’t top class. I have no doubts that Jurgen will support the keeper (another plus point is his man management skills) but I also believe he’ll be on the lookout for a new number one. Even before last night’s mistakes, I (along with plenty of others) were stating that Karius didn’t have the concentration levels needed in the biggest of games. That being said he’s a tremendous shot-stopper and hopefully Loris will comeback stronger.

Liverpool obviously have a superb frontline; Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino compliment each other so well. Yes Mo gets a lot of the plaudits but Mane and Roberto have had great seasons too. When they are all on form, no defence is safe!

If you can add a creative player like Nabil Fekir to the mix, then they could be playing some scintillating stuff next season.

Really interesting, via @FB_WHISPERS persona model, how Fekir’s game changed from last season to this.

Definitely think he’s ready for a move and #LFC would be very interesting. pic.twitter.com/6fd090lFXG

— Andrew Gibney ? (@Gibney_A) May 27, 2018

When Liverpool went on the front foot and pressed, Real Madrid resembled an older boxer gasping for air as he was pressed against the ropes.

That tactic put AS Roma and Manchester City to the sword, they just need a bit more consistency in doing it in the Premier League and they’ll be challenging of that crown.

Naby Keita will definitely arrive this summer and he’ll be an exciting addition. The Guinean will help win the ball back, create chances for the fluid attackers and he can also grab a few goals from the midfield too. Last term, Keita scored nine for RB Leipzig and created seven assists. Defensively he averaged 2.4 tackles per Bundesliga game.

When you looked at the two benches last night, it was obvious that Liverpool didn’t have the same strength of depth that Real had. That point was hammered home with substitute Gareth Bale coming on and turning the fixture in favour of the Spanish side.

The key about negative issues, is knowing what they are and turning them around.

Liverpool have an ideal opportunity to improve and become strong challengers for years to come. For that to happen, they need to continue to back Jurgen Klopp and add more meat to the strong bones that are the team’s starting eleven.

Add some more strong competition throughout the squad as well as a top class goalkeeper and Liverpool could be serious contenders for the English top flight title and all the elite cup competitions next season.

Posted on May 27th, 2018 by scott
Filed under: Article