Harry Redknapp has surprisingly slammed Liverpool this week – describing our current squad as the worst he’s seen at Anfield in many years, despite us signing seven new players in the summer transfer window.
The former Tottenham and QPR boss highlighted our lack of leadership and defensive stability after another summer of change on Merseyside – adding that we’d been lucky to pick up the points we have so far this season.
Brendan Rodgers’ side won at Stoke and at home to Bournemouth before holding Arsenal to a creditable draw in North London. That was followed by a disappointing reverse at home to another of Redknapp’s former clubs, West Ham, and it seems that the 3-0 result was enough to convince the 68-year-old of our fate this season.
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“I don’t fancy Liverpool at all,” said Redknapp in quotes taken by the Echo. “I think it’s the worst Liverpool team I have seen in years. They look bang average. They are lucky to have any points.
“Bournemouth should have beaten them, they got a wonder goal at Stoke. OK, they played all right first-half at Arsenal. I think they will do well to finish in the top five. I am not with Liverpool at all this year.”
He then joked: “Having said that they will probably win the league.”
However, it was our lack of ‘characters’ – as he put it – that concerned him most, as he continued to explain: “They lost Steven Gerrard, their leader. What a player. They lost Jamie Carragher the year before. They’ve lost their characters,” he added.
Our defence was also a major worry for him, despite the quartet of Nathaniel Clyne, Joe Gomez, Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren recording three clean sheets in the first four games, with our poor performance against the Hammers highlighting the lessons we still need to learn.
The two new full-backs certainly look to have helped stabilise our shaky back-line, but Redknapp points out that the centre-back pairing still needs a lot of work.
“Look at the two centre-halves on Saturday [Dejan Lovren and Martin Skrtel],” he said. “The left-back [Joe Gomez] is a good young player who can’t kick with his left foot but he is playing at left-back.
“He’s a fantastic talent, strong, quick. But what will he give you on the left? He is on the wrong side. They look a badly balanced team to me. Sorry, I can’t have Liverpool.
“I love Liverpool Football Club, and if you said to me which team would I have loved to manage in this country it would be Liverpool – but I can’t see it this year.”