Copy linkFacebookXPinterestEmailShare this article 0Join the conversationFollow usAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleNewsletterFour Four TwoGet FourFourTwo NewsletterThe best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member features.Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.You are now subscribedYour newsletter sign-up was successfulWant to add more newsletters?Five times a weekFourFourTwo DailyFantastic football content straight to your inbox! From the latest transfer news, quizzes, videos, features and interviews with the biggest names in the game, plus lots more.Signup +Once a week...And its LIVE!Sign up to our FREE live football newsletter, tracking all of the biggest games available to watch on the device of your choice. Never miss a kick-off!Signup +Join the clubGet full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in.Subscribe to our newsletterHeres a question we would like to know the answer to. Did Liverpool privately suspect this decline might be coming? Because we have a growing suspicion that they did.Obviously, we have to be very careful about over-attributing Liverpools decline to anything in light of the deep personal tragedy they had to deal with following the unexpected death of Diogo Jota in the summer. The toll that must have taken should not go unmentioned, nor do we wish to trivialise it.Nonetheless, the club must find a way to go on, and we can only really discuss that in normal football terms. That may seem callous, but there isnt really an alternative. And the fact is that even earlier in the summer, Liverpool appeared to be underway on a rebuild of the scale that few even thought was strictly necessary. You may like Mo Salah Anfield exit kickstarts biggest issue Liverpool have faced for almost a decade Liverpool are letting Hugo Ekitike down Arne Slot's Liverpool exit edges closer with another defeat: how much patience can the Reds show the Dutchman? Liverpool have left gaps in their squad - but may be ahead of the game in other areasIt is a fair criticism of Liverpools recruitment to say that they spent an awful lot of money last summer on several players who they did not particularly seem to desperately need, all while leaving more obviously urgent areas for improvement unaddressed.Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez were no-brainers nobody really argued with at the time, so its hard to knock Liverpool for the fact that the Dutchman has struggled with injuries or that Kerkez immediately went from one of the best left-backs in the Premier League to more like an undisciplined headless chicken upon arriving at Anfield.But their centre-backs and wingers have struggled all season, and predictably so so it seems curious that they didnt move to recruit for those roles, especially after selling Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich. And when you look at what Liverpool did do, the question becomessurely that money could have been better spent elsewhere?Would they have spent �125m on Alexander Isak if they had known Hugo Ekitike was going to be quite so good?Get FourFourTwo NewsletterThe best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.With Alisson still going strong albeit still with injury problems was this the most pressing time to go and spend �25m on a very talented young goalkeeper, especially after a lack of first-team football left Caoimhin Kelleher to look elsewhere?Was �100m for Florian Wirtz really a top priority, given Liverpool had the best-balanced midfield in the Premier League last season?All fair questions. But if were being generous, we cant help but wonder if there is a bit of method behind it. What to read next Liverpool must build their future around him former Premier League star Frank Lebouef believes the Reds future success depends on countrymans stellar performances Liverpool turn set-piece weakness into strength - just in time for key stage of the season Liverpool have beaten Bayern Munich to major Bundesliga transfer and Mo Salah successor: report It was obvious that the front line needed substantially freshening up. Diaz wanted out despite being a first-team regular. Darwin Nunez never cut it. Salah had just turned 33. Federico Chiesa feels very squad player for life. Rio Ngumoha is only 16. Cody Gakpo, though initially promising, has not pushed on as hoped and is turning out to essentially be a taller Ryan Babel (or the Tower of Babel, if you will).Even still, recruiting for those positions probably wasnt as urgent as replacing van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate at centre-back. But sometimes, the market dictates what moves you can make.Liverpool evidently felt that if they didnt go for Ekitike, Isak and Wirtz now, they could miss out altogether. If they were beyond doubt that those were the three they think can lead the line for the next three to five years, then it made sense to move for them then.We have to wonder, in hindsight, if they genuinely were considering letting Salah and Van Dijk go at the end of last season, only to realise that if they wanted to make those moves, they would not have the resources left over to sign replacements.Extending both players deals, then, may well have been accepted as a stopgap measure to allow them to pursue moves they felt they just couldnt turn down. They knew both players were likely to decline Van Dijk was already on that trajectory, Salah was going to hit a wall eventually but may have felt it was a worthwhile trade-off if it allowed them to concentrate their attention elsewhere, rather than adding to their summer shopping list.In all candour, though, that line of argument currently feels unconvincing. Marc Guehi was a tap-in of a signing for them if they had just met Crystal Palaces valuation, but Liverpools reluctance to do so was their loss and Manchester Citys gain.The real test is what comes next. If Liverpool do get it right, the compromises they have made this season may still prove to be worthwhile.Liverpool fans may not like the comparison, but the ultimate example can be found in what Manchester United did from 2003 to 2006.Finishing third, third and second in the Premier League and failing to make it past the Champions League round of 16 in three years even going out in the group stage in 2005/06 was a significant step back for a side that had won the treble just a few years before. Three members of the Class of 92 left the club in that period, as did captain Roy Keane.But just look at what they built in their place. Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer of 2003. Gabriel Heinze and Wayne Rooney the following summer. Edwin van der Sar, Park Ji-Sung, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Michael Carrick in that final year in comparative wilderness, by the standards of a Sir Alex Ferguson team.That laid the foundation for possibly the best ever of Fergusons sides; four league titles and three appearances in Champions League finals (the first of which they won) followed in the space of five years.So again: did Liverpool know they were heading for a similar period? Their summer business off the back of a title win suggests they just might have done, but they probably didnt anticipate them to fall off quite as badly as they have. Or more accurately: they probably didn't quite expect a squad in transition to win the Premier League title last season in the first place.This is a less patient time than the early 2000s; they are going to need to show they are back on the right track pretty sharpish.TOPICSMohamed SalahSteven ChickenSocial Links NavigationSteven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication,WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.
