In the build-up to Wednesday night’s FA Cup fifth-round clash between Liverpool and Norwich City at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp described this squad as the best he has ever coached in his managerial career.
But as ferociously talented as Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz may be, there’s no one who haunts Norwich dreams quite like Luis Suarez.
Suarez famously scored 12 goals in just six games against the Canaries, including four outrageous finishes in a 5-1 thumping all the way back in December 2013.
But, as Norwich look to avoid a similar thrashing at Anfield tonight, what has become of the rest of that Liverpool side from nearly nine years ago?
Goalkeeper
Simon Mignolet
Replacing Mignolet with Alisson Becker felt like a big moment in Liverpool’s development. Out with the good, in with the great. Mignolet will be unfortunately remembered at Anfield more for his mistakes than anything else but deserves credit for a late-career resurgence back home in Belgium.
The veteran shot-stopper has lifted the Jupiler League title in each of the last two seasons.
Defence
Glen Johnson
Liverpool paid £18.5 million to sign Johnson from Portsmouth in the summer of 2009. If that was a huge fee at the time, imagine how much it would cost these days to land a 24-year-old England international with a proven track record in the Premier League.
Retired in 2018 after a spell at Stoke City and now works as a pundit for talkSPORT.
Daniel Agger
The very definition of a cult hero. A commanding, uncompromising Scandinavian centre-back, if you transported a blood-thirsty Viking warrior into the 21st century and forced football boots onto his feet, you’d get Daniel Agger.
Forced to retire at the age of 31 after injuries took their toll, Agger now coaches HB Koge in the Danish top flight.
Martin Skrtel
A skinhead by choice, what you saw was what you got from Martin Skrtel. Once the most expensive defender in Liverpool’s history (at £69 million less than Virgil van Dijk by the way), the 37-year-old is still going strong, plying his trade back home in Slovakia with Spartak Trnava.
Jon Flanagan
Another, like Agger, who saw his progress at Anfield curtailed by injuries. Once hailed by Brazilian legend Cafu, Flanagan made just 41 league appearances for Liverpool, Burnley, Bolton, Rangers and Charleroi between 2015 and 2021.
Now reunited with Agger at Kobe.
Midfield
Joe Allen
Still just 31, the tough-tackling Allen is fondly remembered by Liverpool supporters, winning over his critics with an all-action approach, never-say-die spirit and affable personality. Might not have become Melwood’s answer to Xavi but remains an essential part of the Wales international set-up.
Shone at Euro 2020 and a regular part of the Stoke City XI.
Jordan Henderson
Like Allen, silenced his doubters at Anfield, going from £20 million flop to Premier League and Champions League-winning captain.
Awarded an MBE for his services to charity, Henderson lifted his sixth trophy in Liverpool colours after beating Man City in the EFL Cup final on Sunday.
Steven Gerrard
A former Liverpool captain, and future Liverpool manager? After guiding Rangers to their first Scottish Premiership title in a decade – completing a historic Invincible season north of the border – Gerrard continues to cut his managerial teeth at Aston Villa.
One of the favourites to take over from Jurgen Klopp when the German rides off into the Merseyside sunset.
Attack
Raheem Sterling
It says a lot about how far Liverpool have come under Klopp that, back in 2015, Sterling felt he had no choice but to leave Anfield behind in order to fulfil his potential.
To be fair, the England international can point to his trio of Premier League titles as justification for that decision.
Philippe Coutinho
Like Flanagan, now plying his trade under a former Liverpool favourite. Coutinho returned to Britain in January after a disastrous stint at Barcelona, linking up with Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa, and is showing flashes of the quality that once made him the most expensive export in the history of England’s top flight.
Luis Suarez
The finest number nine of the 21st century? Sergio Aguero, Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski might have something to say about that but Suarez’s statistics speak for themselves. A legend at both Liverpool and Barcelona, Suarez might have lost a yard of page in his mid-30s but his predatory instincts remain as sharp as ever.
Fired Atletico Madrid to La Liga glory in 2021.
Bench
Brad Jones
Liverpool’s long-serving number two became a number one at Feyenoord and scribed his name into the Eredivisie history books. Jones kept 17 clean sheets as the Rotterdam giants lifted the Dutch league title for the first time since the 1990s.
The veteran Aussie signed a two-year deal with Perth Glory last summer after a spell in the Middle East.
Kolo Toure
Not quite as impressive at Anfield as he was at Arsenal and Manchester City. One of the most underrated centre-backs of the modern Premier League era, Toure is currently working alongside former Reds boss Brendan Rodgers as a first-team coach at Leicester City.
Luis Alberto
One of the few players sold by Liverpool in recent seasons who would arguably walk back into Klopp’s XI. The silky Spain international barely kicked a ball in anger at Anfield. But he’s blossomed in Lazio, turning into one of Europe’s most potent attacking midfielders.
Recently valued at around £70 million.
Iago Aspas
That his ill-fated Liverpool career is best remembered for a scuffed corner kick speaks volumes. But Aspas is to Celta Vigo what Gerrard is to Liverpool, a truly talismanic presence at his boyhood club.
A regular tormentor of Barcelona, Aspas has scored 127 goals in his last 252 games.
Victor Moses
Mustered just 22 appearances on loan at Liverpool before Antonio Conte arrived and salvaged his Chelsea career with an inspired positional switch. Moses is now in Russia with Spartak Moscow after a spell at Fenerbahce.
Mamadou Sakho
Somehow, Liverpool managed to make a profit on a former PSG skipper who failed to live up to lofty expectations in the North West. Sakho currently plies his trade at perennial Ligue 1 overachievers Montpellier after a hit-and-miss stint at Crystal Palace.
Lucas Leiva
Kenny Dalglish recently described the ‘brilliant’ Lucas Leiva as one of the best players he ever managed. And that sums up the oft-undervalued Brazilian.
A hugely important, if underrated, cog in a bygone era at Liverpool. 35-year-old Lucas is defying Father Time at Lazio these days.
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