Nevertheless, Liverpool have relied on declining stars (van Dijk, Salah) for too long, have been shaken by the tragic death of Jota, and may have missed players they sold - such as Henderson, and Mane - far more than they realised.
In other words, a team in a state of transition, something the fans may not fully accept.
It's important to remember that before Liverpool brought in Alisson and VvD, Liverpool were an exciting team to watch who scored often but left too many points on the field. The keeper and center back cost a lot but they were the bedrock of Liverpool's trophy-winning sides. We kept scoring and stopped leaking goals.
Now both are ageing and Alisson is pretty injury prone. And, as I mentioned before, we had a killer front line that is impossible to replace like-for-like.
They also wasted money on Issak. Yes he could still come good, but from the outside looking in he doesn’t seem to be the ‘right’ sort of player you want in the dressing room.
It was a big gamble that has failed - at least if your threshold for success is 'comes in and immediately performs at a Peak Salah level.' Though I personally never expected that. On the other hand, I had hoped for something better than 'struggles to score and then suffers a [more or less] season-ending fracture.'
I doubt Isak will ever be as good as Diaz, Jota, or Salah. Bearing in mind also those three fed off each other and that counted for a lot. But Isak might turn out to be
good enough if he can stay healthy, grow up a little, and if the manager can find the best way to use him. The money is irrelevant these days, he cost what he cost and that's FSG's problem.
The question is where to focus energies on fixing things...The keeper and our key center back are ageing. Our wingbacks are OK but not great and lack depth. Midfield is OK-ish. Attacking players are underperforming as a group and Salah will be gone. And if Slot goes, who replaces him and how does that impact the rebuild? I do NOT want to see a big tactical 180 in choice of manager, Man Utd or Spurs style. Too disruptive.
Building the team around Wirtz seems wise. He has the talent.
