Gary Neville has (just about) grown on us since he hung up his boots and moved into punditry alongside Jamie Carragher, although that’s not to say we didn’t enjoy his ill-fated stint at Valencia!
Usually though, the former Manchester United fullback speaks sense, and for us, he’s hit the nail on the head in regards to our current form and our hopes for the end of the season…
Liverpool have won one game in ten and as a result have dropped out of both domestic cups and the top four, but according to Neville, this was always going to happen when our fixture list became increasingly busy.
At the start of the campaign, we had a break between matches and Jurgen Klopp could pick the same side, having had time with them on the training ground, but since the turn of the calendar year, this simply hasn’t been the case.
“Liverpool had a period where they could pick the same side, they had that week to prepare,” Neville told Sky Sports (cited by the Mirror).
“The minute that that squad hit three games a week, with the way that they play, was always going to hurt them. You cannot play that way three times a week.
“When you are leaving six players back at base, it causes disruption, it disrupts the squad and the squad isn’t good enough. Liverpool will get stronger as the season goes on. Now they are out of the cups, they are back to that period where they will have a week between games, and that is when they get can get their energy up and become devastating.
“Next season, when they potentially get back into Europe, they will have to strengthen the squad.”
For the first time since before Christmas, we have the full week to prepare for Spurs on Saturday, which Klopp will be mighty grateful for. After that, it’s one game per week until the summer – which should stand us in mighty good stead.
If we’re to turn around our current malaise though, we need to start winning matches – and quickly.