Liverpool have struggled to have enough quality on the bench in previous seasons. The last time they had a top-class bench was in 2008/2009 under Rafa Benitez, with the likes of Yossi Benayoun and Albert Riera avaliable when required for the Reds.
Ever since then, under the helms of Roy Hodgson, Kenny Dalglish, Brendan Rodgers and recently Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool have not had the players that can make an impact in matches when the game is not going in their favour.
A recent example of this is in the UEFA Champions League final in Kyiv. Mohamed Salah had to be taken off injured after the infamous challenge by Sergio Ramos, the only option avaliable for a replacement was Adam Lallana, a player who struggled with fitness all season and was not a natural replacement for the free-scoring Salah. Now with the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri signed up, do Liverpool have quality depth once again?
The bench against Real Madrid back in May was: Simon Mignolet, Nathaniel Clyne, Ragnar Klavan, Alberto Moreno, Adam Lallana, Emre Can and Dominic Solanke. There were not really any players available that could change the game in Liverpool’s favour.
Since then, Liverpool have brought in Naby Keita from Red Bull Leipzig, Fabinho from AS Monaco and Xherdan Shaqiri from Stoke City. These 3 signings plus the possibility of signing Nabil Fekir or another attacking midfielder means that the bench will be much better for this upcoming season.
It could be Mignolet, Clyne, Gomez, Wijnaldum, Henderson, Sturridge, Shaqiri. This also leaves out players such as Ragnar Klavan, James Milner, Divock Origi and Rhian Brewster. There are now game-changers avaliable to Jurgen Klopp such as Wijnaldum, Sturridge and Shaqiri.
This enables him to change tactics if required or change to a 4-2-3-1 or 3-4-3. This is probably the best squad depth a Liverpool manager has had at his disposal in a long time and it should enable them to compete on multiple fronts this season.
The Liverbird 