Ray Houghton debates how Brendan Rodgers can improve next season

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Former Liverpool star Ray Houghton has warned that the Reds face a pivotal summer transfer window, regardless of whether we stick with manager Brendan Rodgers.

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After finishing second last season, the Reds have struggled to cope with the increased demands of playing European football and the blow of losing last season’s top scorer Luis Suarez before the campaign had even begun.

There have been positives, not least our progress to the semi-finals of two cup competitions, but Rodgers will be all too aware that he’s at least a couple of players short of challenging for the Premier League title.

He said as much earlier this week, when he revealed his belief that our owners will pursue ‘marquee’ signatures before the start of next season. In quotes taken by Sky Sports, he said: “Now we have to look to improve the squad and it’s always great if you can get marquee players to come in and help you. The owners will support that.”

Houghton agrees that this is the right way forward. The former midfielder, who played over 150 league games for the Reds in the late 1980s and early 1990s, told talkSPORT (via the Daily Mirror): “Last season Liverpool finished second and could have won the league. This season they’re 19 points off top spot. That’s a huge change.

“The fans want to see trophies and they’ve missed out in two semi-finals, one where they were unlucky against Chelsea [in the Capital One Cup], whereas against Aston Villa [in the FA Cup] they were second best.

“There needs to be progress and the fans have to believe the owners are going to give the manager money to compete next season. That’s what they’ll be looking at.

“If Brendan Rodgers moved on, they will still need funding to go out and improve the squad.”

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