Liverpool may be regretting ignoring Pep Guardiola advice amid issues

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp expects 'proper fight' against Rangers

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Liverpool may be starting to regret failing to sufficiently freshen up their squad over the past few years despite Pep Guardiola’s warnings that it is ‘impossible’ to achieve prolonged success with the same players. Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI has barely changed since they won the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020 and their performances have now started to suffer, winning just three of their nine games in all competitions to start this season. 

Liverpool currently sit ninth in the Premier League after a dire start to the campaign which has seen Klopp’s men pick up just nine points from their opening seven games. Their Champions League form has not been much better with an abject 4-1 defeat away to Napoli the major low point of the season so far. This weekend was not much better, with the Reds conceding three goals at home to Brighton, spurning a 3-2 lead having been 2-0 down, to draw 3-3. 

Much of Liverpool’s issues stem from a lack of fresh faces with the first-team still largely similar to what it was during their successful seasons in 2019 and 2020. Only Gini Wijnaldum and Sadio Mane have left the club in the intervening period to be replaced in the starting line-up by Thiago Alcantara and Luis Diaz. 

However, it was an issue the Reds could arguably have avoided with a little more investment and it is something that has been previously warned by Guardiola. The Sky Blues boss has enjoyed sustained success at the top of football first with Barcelona, then Bayern Munich and now City. The Citizens have won four out of the five last Premier League seasons with their one failure coming amid Liverpool’s success in 2020.

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The Spaniard was asked by Rio Ferdinand ahead of the Champions League final in 2021 about what it took to continually compete at the upper echelons of the sports year after year. Guardiola stressed the importance of freshening things up to ensure players continue to perform the top level. 

“You have to shake. You have to move,” he explained. “With the same guys, it is almost impossible. We change. After defeat or win, we change. Me included.

“At the beginning you accept things. But when you win, you accept less. When you are in the position you are not playing after playing, sometimes they don’t accept and have to move. You have to do it [change]. If you don’t it’s impossible.”

Given the lack of change to Liverpool’s starting eleven, this could be an issue the Reds have now run into. There has been something of a failure to sufficiently add to the squad with new signings like Darwin Nunez failing to match the level of the likes of Mane that they had come in to replace. 

The squad is ageing with leaders like Jordan Henderson and James Milner starting to become less consistent with their advancing years while there is also a lack of competition within the squad. Key players like Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are among the many players failing to match their usual levels of performance.

It remains to be seen how Klopp proceeds from the current difficulties that the club faces however it is becoming increasingly apparent that a big overhaul could be required. Something which could have been avoided if they had constantly evolved as Guardiola advised. 

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