Liverpool only signed one player in this summer's transfer window transfer operation, and under the active reinforcement of opponents, if they do not advance, they will retreat, and the team's road to the season will be more difficult.
The situation of the team, I believe Liverpool management FSG also understands. However, it seems that the current goal of management is not to compete with the great powers, but to keep the Champions League seat and obtain a stable income. Liverpool went from a one-team champions to a team of four, and the situation reminds me of Arsene Wenger's later Arsenal.
It may be too early to compare Liverpool to Arsenal, which was in decline at the time, but today's Liverpool already has two elements similar to Arsenal at that time.
1. Success is also frugal, and defeat is also frugal
Looking back at Arsenal's nine seasons after the Unbeaten Premier League title-winning season, it did not cost more than 20 million euros to acquire, and the team entered a nine-year period without a title after winning the FA Cup in 2005.
Liverpool have always been frugal with money, signing Roberto Firmino from Hoffenheim, Mane from Southampton, and buying Salah from Rome, the purchase of trident costs 124.2 million euros, less than a Mbappe. The two acquisitions with higher transfer fees in recent years, Van and Alisson Becker, spent money from the sale of Coutinho, which was within the limit of the money, and actually did not invest much.
Liverpool formed a squad for the Champions League and Premier League champions with a meticulous transfer policy that year, which is definitely something to be proud of. However, if management is satisfied with winning the Champions League and Premier League titles, reducing capital investment and maintaining a stable and profitable state, the team may move towards Arsenal's championship-free trajectory.
2. Talents who recruit talents leave the team
Arsenal won unbeaten thanks to the formation of a formidable squad by then-vice-chairman David Dein. With the departure of David Dane, the main force of Arsenal's descendants was not as good as the backbone of the championship team of that year, and the team gradually regressed into a perennial competition for four.
Liverpool today faces the same problem, Liverpool can bring in "Egyptian Civilization", Van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Andrew Robertson and other key teams to form the Champions League and Premier League champions line-up, sporting director Michael Edwards is indispensable.
However, many recent reports, including the Liverpool Echo, have also pointed out that Michael Edwards is expected to leave the team after this season. In the next few years, the main force of the team needs to gradually take over, the management investment is conservative, coupled with the lack of Michael Edwards' vision, I am afraid that the team will not be able to smoothly form the next "golden generation", may go to the trajectory of Arsenal's regression.
It is indeed too early to predict the current Liverpool as arsenal of the year. Liverpool's main force has not yet fully passed the peak at this moment, Klopp, who is good at cultivating players, has not yet completed the contract, and hopes that the team management will be more active (although it is impossible to quickly form a Champions League-winning squad like Chelsea), and start to gradually inject young strength into the team as soon as possible, which can share the main starting time in the short term and help take over in the long run.