John Aldridge has reviewed the transfer business Jurgen Klopp has completed at Liverpool this summer and has explained how he’s looking forward to watching Ben Doak shine this season.
The young Scotsman is up against Liverpool icon Mo Salah for a starting spot in Klopp’s XI but with the Reds wanting to compete on all four fronts this term there’s no reason why the teenager won’t get plenty of minutes to show what he’s made of.
Four midfielders were signed during the summer to revitalise our engine room but Aldridge is concerned that a new central defender was not brought to the club before the window closed last week.
The 64-year-old told William Hill (via Football365): “We’re doing a little bit of a rebuild situation, as we all know.
“Some big players have gone out, so you just need to trust Jurgen Klopp – hopefully the owners will give him the tools he needs. Some people think it hasn’t been a great pre-season with some of the signings, but it’s not that bad!
“You look at the two lads in midfield who have come in, in particular – Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai – and they excite me. Having said that, we all know as fans that we all need at least one more centre-half.
“Up front ,we’ve got five fantastic players and goalscorers, plus another lad who excites me as well – Ben Doak. I love watching his attitude; he’s like one of the proper Jocks who used to play for Liverpool and I think we’ll see a lot of him this season – so there’s actually six attackers there.
“For the midfield – I do think that they lack a defensive midfield player. I don’t know what Ryan Gravenberch is going to be like. For me, the club needed a top centre-half and perhaps a top full-back as well – but the manager already knows that.”
In midfield and attack we’re now pretty well stocked with serious quality and strength in depth.
But in regards to our defence it’s fair to say that Reds supporters would’ve liked to have seen a new central defender brought to the club.
There were links with Chelsea’s Levi Colwill before he signed a new deal at Stamford Bridge and in the end no new additions were made to our backline.
Joel Matip and Joe Gomez continue to act as back-ups to both Virgil van Dijk and Ibou Konate but after those four options we’re then left with young defender Jarell Quansah, who has featured in our last two games, next in the pecking order.
Jermaine Pennant has claimed recently that we should be competing for the title after retaining the services of Mo Salah so let’s hope we can keep up our brilliant start to the campaign following the international break.
#Ep89 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️