Ian Wright has claimed that Liverpool attacking duo Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino would have ‘gone by now’ if it wasn’t for COVID, as he told The Kelly and Wrighty Show on Premier League Productions (10/10/22 at 2:10 pm).
The former England striker was reacting to the fallout from Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat to Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday and he spoke about how, if Salah and Firmino had previously left, then it would have allowed Jurgen Klopp to refresh his now seemingly stagnating squad a lot more.
The Liverpool duo, alongside summer departee Sadio Mane, produced moments on Merseyside the club’s fans will never forget, including lifting European glory and ending their 30-year wait to become champions of England.
But there comes a time when you need to change, Sir Alex Ferguson was a genius at it, whether it be parting ways with Dwight Yorke not soon after Manchester United’s treble-winning season or Roy Keane’s controversial exit in 2005.
Perhaps Klopp is at that stage of making big calls now because their decline this season, some may even point towards the final few months of the last campaign, is there for all to see.
Nonetheless, with the dust settling following Liverpool’s defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, which kept them in tenth place, Wright spoke about how Salah and Firmino could have been out of the door by now.
“I think Liverpool are just going through a transition,” said Wright. “A natural transition. I think they were very much affected by COVID. I think that’s gone under the radar, in respect of how Liverpool bring people in.
“I think Firmino and Salah. I believe two of them may have gone by now. That would have given them the money to refresh and move again. But it’s not happened.
“I think they have signed new deals. Virgil van Dijk not long ago and Jordan Henderson, so they could see how much more they can get out of this team.
“They have got to a stage where they have hung tooth and nail onto Manchester City and a team that aren’t running out of petrol anytime soon, so there’s no slowing up. I think it has maybe affected them mentally to try and stay with it and with recruitment.
“Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones when he is fit and Carvalho. Can these players be the next to go through? Because I think Liverpool are now going through it.”
KLOPP HAS BIG CALLS TO MAKE
This is without a doubt the toughest period of Klopp’s reign at Anfield so far and the German coach has some big calls to make.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if there is a bit of a clearout next summer because Liverpool have players that are either declining, at the back end of their careers, injury-prone or just not producing the goods, even if they have before.
Liverpool’s problem is all of that has landed on their doorstep this season, and, as the results and performances are showcasing, it’s causing havoc on them.
In the short-term, Klopp can’t make much change other than getting the club back to winning ways, climbing the table, ensuring top-four doesn’t slip away from them and pushing his team towards the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Things will get a lot worse if they start showing signs that they won’t even be able to finish in the top-four or if they somehow mess up their passage to the knockout stages of Europe.
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