Noel Whelan has suggested that Liverpool were right to limit their transfer dealings in the summer window, specifically praising the club for its decision to invest further in the development of Anfield.
The 46-year-old was also keen to highlight the potential on offer from the likes of teenager Harvey Elliott who he felt was an ideal replacement for former Red Xherdan Shaqiri.
“I think Liverpool is in a really healthy place. They felt they didn’t need to go out and spend,” the Leeds United star told Football Insider.
“They got rid of [Xherdan Shaqiri and had Harvey Elliott. He is that replacement for Shaqiri.
“They’ve brought in young players for the future and now that’s coming to fruition. Why spend when you’ve got it already there? Just for the sake of it?
“You’re going to have to develop your stadium at some point. You’ve got to plan. Do they need to buy anyone? No, they don’t.
“That gives you that money to develop the stadium and host events there. You want to be keeping up with the Joneses and having stadiums that can cope with the demand and put on a spectacle.”
The Premier League outfit was officially given the go-ahead earlier in the summer to pursue plans to further bolster Anfield’s capacity with a £60m extension of the Anfield Road End.
Whilst we at the Empire of the Kop would argue that two further additions beyond Ibrahima Konate this summer would have been ideal, the performances we’ve observed have been far from unsatisfactory.
Prior to sustaining a serious injury in our 3-0 victory over Leeds United, Elliott’s early contributions in the season were particularly impressive following a season spent on loan in the Championship.
We’ll still be gambling on our current injury list not expanding significantly after having lost one of our most reliable starters in Gini Wijnaldum, though we’ve enjoyed a superb start to the campaign regardless.
It’s great that the owners continue to develop Anfield, and easy for Noel Whelan to say that we were right not to spend in the Summer, but let’s see what he has to say when Salah and Mane head off to The African Cup of Nations and we have no forwards to cover them, other than Origi. Origi has done well on occasions, but lacks consistency and is not up to Liverpool or Premier League standards.
This kind of ignorant ra-ra-ra rosy view is precisely why sadly Pool has zero chance of winning anything anymore. Over the long haul the strength of squads are what determines the League winners.. we have 4 strikers which is not enough given the number and intensity of games in 4 competitions. We chose to not replace a key midfielder while the cover numbers have always been blighted by injuries. 6 games into season and we already lost THREE midfielders. And it shows already… last year we chose to risk not getting an extra CB and we paid the price. This summer we repeated the mistake, in midfield. We don’t learn and the owners care only about making Top4, that’s all..
No one expects Pool to go for the +100 mil players like our direct challengers.. but to not invest even in quality back up when the likes of Origi is clearly not trusted is irresponsible.. btw, does no one see that TAA is NOT a defender? He was absolutely horrible at Brentford. Absent at all goals, nothing but crosses nowhere and no defensive presence whatsoever he is a complete liability and we have no one to give him a break .. no one! Can you imagine how he will look against Grealish and Sterling next week end??