After competing for a quadruple last term, Liverpool will have to make do with a top four finish at best this season.
The Reds are currently in the middle of an international break, as they wait to return to Premier League action. Jurgen Klopp’s side are in sixth place in the table and seven points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with two games in hand.
Liverpool failed to retain their Carabao Cup title from last season, and have already been knocked out of both the Champions League and FA Cup. Plus, the Reds’ chances of lifting the Premier League title did not go on for long this season.
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As busy summer awaits Liverpool off the pitch, while also having 12 fixtures left this season to secure a top four finish. And here is what pundits have said could happen, or need to happen, at Anfield before the 2023/24 campaign begins.
Jamie Carragher
Jamie Carragher gave a passionate explanation of why change is needed at Liverpool after their Champions League defeat to Real Madrid.
The former Reds defender spoke at length after Liverpool lost 5-2 to the Spanish giants in the first leg of the last-16 tie at Anfield last month. Carragher said that, as well as midfield, the defence needs attention in the transfer market as well this summer.
"This team had a great defensive record last season but we know the midfield doesn't have the energy anymore," Carragher told CBS Sports in February.
"The attacking players in the front three don't press with the cohesion that was there before, with [Roberto] Firmino and [Sadio] Mane. They're new to it, Nunez and [Cody] Gakpo.
"So this Liverpool defence now, who we've been told for years have got some of the best players in the world, can't cope.
"For years they've had six in front of them who've probably worked harder and smarter than any other team in world football. But now that's gone, it's completely fallen apart.
"As a Liverpool fan, we absolutely adore this manager and team and they've done so much for this club in the last four or five years. It hurts you to say anything negative because they've given you so much, but Liverpool are eighth in the Premier League and they've just been battered 5-2 in the Champions League.
"I know it's Real Madrid but these are the two teams that were in the final last year. It's not acceptable what we're watching this season.
"We keep looking for reasons and excuses but it's nowhere near good enough."
"What makes me laugh is Virgil van Dijk said I wouldn't get in that back four about two months ago.
"I think I'd take his place at the moment. We keep talking about the midfield players Liverpool need - and I think that's right - but Liverpool need defenders as well. When they get exposed, they can't defend."
Gary Neville
Before the 2019/20 season began, Gary Neville infamously insisted Manchester United would win the title again before Liverpool.
The Reds would, of course, go on to end a 30-year wait for a top flight title that season. And explaining his decision, Neville explained why only a change of ownership at Anfield or an injection of outside investment would help them lift the Premier League again under Klopp.
"The only reason I said that at the time is because I didn't think Jurgen Klopp could have won the league with that net spend," Neville told the ECHO in January. "At that time we hadn't seen the full fruits of Van Dijk and Alisson and I didn't think Salah or Mane could maintain their levels. But what Jurgen Klopp got out of those players for four or five years was a monumental achievement given Liverpool's net spend.
"But I would again say United are more likely to win the title next. If you ask me will Liverpool win the league again under Klopp, the answer is I don't know. Who are Liverpool's new owners going to be? Is there going to be new investment in the club? And how much is it going to be?
"If they have Jurgen Klopp as a manager and there's a £200m or £300m transfer war chest in the summer, of course they could go and win it again. But if they don't spend big in competing with City, Chelsea and United, then you're making Jurgen Klopp's job a lot harder in terms of winning the league.
"The teams that win the league - and there are always exceptions, such as Liverpool and Leicester - ordinarily they have among the biggest budgets. That's the same for every league."
Didi Hamann
Former Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann gave his reasoning why he thinks that there’s a chance Klopp could leave the club this summer.
Klopp is currently nearing the end of his seventh full season in charge of the Reds, and is contracted to remain at Anfield until 2026. There has been no suggestion from the club or Klopp that they will part ways in the coming months.
However, Hamann has explained why he thinks the German could leave Liverpool this summer. The former Reds midfielder believes that if the club do not sign enough new players then he could see Klopp departing at the end of the season.
"They set the bar very high after the disappointment of last year, when they were about to win all four titles,” Hamann told Sky Germany earlier this month.
“They gambled away the two biggest at the last moment. It was clear that it would be a difficult season psychologically. But I didn't think they would fall apart like that.
"I feel like he's telling himself he can turn it around,” Hamann added. “That assumes they bring players in.
“If they don't bring players in then I can't see him staying. Because I can't imagine him staying if he doesn't have a remote chance of playing for a title.
“The competition is huge. I think it would be best for both sides if they make a cut in the summer.
“The team [has] been falling apart in the last few months.
“For a coach who's been around that long I think it's almost impossible to pull off.
"The team needs a complete makeover. You need at least four five players, if not seven or eight.
“They have the money, but whether they give it to the coach remains to be seen."
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