It’s fair to say that Liverpool hardly covered themselves in glory with a second-half outing in the Champions League which saw Jurgen Klopp’s men ship three goals without reply.
The fact the hosts were attacking the Kop (or, rather, were supposed to be), didn’t better a troubling picture of a squad in sharp decline following the highs of a quadruple hunt last term.
Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Virgil van Dijk were consequently picked out by BBC Sport’s Phil McNulty as players far from their best on a night Real Madrid decimated their opposition.
“Fabinho – who was outpaced by 37-year-old Luka Modric for Real’s fifth goal – and Jordan Henderson are shadows of their former selves,” the chief football writer wrote.
“The same applied to Virgil van Dijk on Tuesday, although Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez also both had very uncomfortable nights as Real simply destroyed Liverpool in the second half.
“The Reds are light years away from the team that chased the quadruple last season and a miracle at the Bernabeu is surely beyond them.
“Klopp will have known this team required renewal even before Tuesday’s embarrassment. The manner in which they were humbled by Real will have simply crystallised those beliefs.”
There are already serious question marks over the futures of our No.3 and No.14 with there being a clear need for a revamp in the middle of the park.
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Nothing has exposed this reality more than the emergence of Stefan Bajcetic – arguably our best player since the World Cup break, Mo Salah argued – who has looked a breath of fresh air in the midfield.
We’ll have to somehow make do with our current options until the summer, but Liverpool simply can’t be reserved in the market at the next available opportunity.
The mission statement is clear: bring in at least two new, young midfielders capable of meeting the demands of Klopp’s rock n’ roll football or face the prospect of a decline spiralling completely out of control.