Jurgen Klopp has won more points than any other Liverpool manager in his first full season in the Premier League. He will take his troops to the qualifying stage of the Champions League next season and a lot of credit has to go to his transfer dealings. The likes of Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum and Joel Matip have all played crucial roles in the team finishing fourth this season.
However, at every stage of the season, the Reds exposed some liability or the other in the squad and with injuries mounting, it looked like a season that got away a few months ago. Jurgen Klopp will have learnt his lesson and will have identified the issues he needs to deal with this summer. Here are three such shortcomings for Liverpool that need to be eradicated before the start of the next season:
Defensive frailties:
The Reds have used James Milner at left-back, Dejan Lovren, in spite of his many slip-ups, to partner Joel Matip at the centre of the defence, making their league position all the more impressive. Klopp is sure to work on both these positions as it is hard to see them go in with a similar lineup. As impressive at times as Lovren is, he is far from a player who can lead a team in UCL and Liverpool have suffered not just this season, due to lack of quality defenders at the back. Something, to think long about, for Jurgen Klopp.
Lack of width in the attack:
The Reds spent on Sadio Mane in the summer at the start of the season and the Senegalese winger stands as the top scorer for the club this season. This shows the effect a genuine winger can have on the squad and it is a shock that Mane is the only senior winger available for this role.
They have, on more than one occasion, failed to break teams down, playing centrally too often, and they need a player who is ready to take on oppositions to reach the byline. They have missed such a quality this season and Klopp should work on it this summer.
Lack of squad depth in certain areas:
But the biggest problem for Liverpool this season has been the lack of depth. They have used Lucas Leiva, a player who was expected to cover only for contingencies, as the first choice centre back and first choice CDM for the last few months. That is down to various injuries but they cannot afford to fall into such a situation next season. They also failed to replace Sadio Mane on the wing, Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson in the midfield and if that is the case, they will be a walk over in the Champions League. Surely, this is a liability that needs to be paid up this summer.
