ACCORDING TO A former Liverpool manager, the biggest mistake the club have made recently is bringing in too many players.
Gerard Houllier, who was in charge at Anfield for six seasons and who oversaw a hugely successful period for the Merseysiders, says that the recruitment policy has let Liverpool down.
“Regarding Liverpool’s recruitment strategy, I would say that their main mistake is that they signed too many players”, he told The Guardian.
You need to have cohesion in your team, to keep the players. They lost Luis Suárez and brought in too many strikers. They took Mario Balotelli, they took Rickie Lambert.”
Houllier presided over the memorable 2000/2001 campaign in which the Reds claimed five trophies, including the Uefa Cup and FA Cup.
Brendan Rodgers fell short of winning a trophy during his three-year spell in charge but, as Houllier mentioned, it wasn’t by much.
“I liked Brendan Rodgers because he made his team play very well. And some players improved with him. Unfortunately Liverpool had too many injuries and they didn’t win a trophy. They had an opportunity in the semi-finals of the FA Cup last season, they could have won against Aston Villa. But once again you need to have luck. When you think back to the season before, they were doing so well. And then Steven Gerrard slipped, probably depriving his team of the title.”
The Frenchman is excited by the arrival of new manager Jurgen Klopp and is impressed by the clarity of his style.
“The future will tell but I trust Jürgen to do well. I know him, I think his passion will fit in well with the passion of the fans of Anfield Road. He’s still a young, energetic coach. He knows what he wants, he’s got not only a vision but also a good philosophy. I think he’ll be loved by the players and the fans.”
