Michael Owen has pointed out several key issues Liverpool need to address despite fighting a comeback win over AC Milan.
Speaking to BT Sport, Michael Owen has voiced his concerns over Liverpool and their ageing squad. The former forward has pointed out several players who are heading into the final phase of their respective careers and believes that the club needs to add reinforcements if they are to move forward and build a solid core for the future.
Owen’s comments came just after Liverpool’s hard-fought 3-2 win over AC Milan that has added a feel-good atmosphere in the Anfield camp. The 2019 European champions have indeed started the season well, with ten points in four league matches and a win in their opening fixture in the UEFA Champions League.
The Reds did have an uneventful summer transfer window, but have done well to extend the contracts of multiple star players including Alisson, Fabinho, Andrew Robertson, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold among many others, though former defender Jamie Carragher believes the club should next target Mohamed Salah.
As for Owen, he has pointed out several flaws in the Liverpool squad in a recent segment with BT Sport, where he said he believes that multiple key players in the first team are heading into the thirties and do not offer much prospect for the long-term.
“What I think the big concern is [that] everyone is going to be old at the same time, in three or four years. Look at the front three: Firmino, Salah and Mane – all late 20s,” he told BT Sport, as quoted by TeamTalk.
“Another three or four years you’re not going to replace one, it all of a sudden goes bump and you’ve got to replace two of them. I think that’s the general around the team – the Matips, the Van Dijks – they’re all late 20s now.
“You’ve got your Henderson and Milners, but that’s fine. That’s experience… but when there’s a glut – that will happen – in four, five years that’s something that Jurgen Klopp has to address next year,” he added.
Owen, who had featured in almost 300 competitive matches for Liverpool, scoring 158 goals, does make a useful point as the club does lack youthful exuberance to the side and are way too overreliant on their experienced stars.
It remains to be seen whether the Reds will make any effort to address that problem in the upcoming January transfer window. They have been linked with a move for Jude Bellingham recently, but the Borussia Dortmund midfielder is unlikely to leave Germany anytime soon.
