Pundit reveals the real ‘truth’ behind ‘bang average’ Liverpool this season

Liverpool won’t sign Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham in the summer with their lack of investment now showing, according to Jamie O’Hara.

The Reds have made a poor start to the new Premier League season, only winning four of their 11 matches to date with Jurgen Klopp’s side now sitting eighth in the table.

A number of players have been underperforming for Liverpool with pundits and former players rummaging around to find the reason for their poor form.

Back-to-back victories over Manchester City and West Ham gave supporters hope they had turned a corner but a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend highlighted their inconsistency.

Liverpool reached 92 points points last season, just one behind champions Manchester City, and O’Hara reckons their poor recruitment has cost them.

A baffled O’Hara asked on talkSPORT: “How has this squad all of a sudden got so bang average?

“I know they’ve got injuries, they’ve got big injuries to key players I get that, everyone picks up injuries, but this team has competed with Man City for three/four seasons.

“They haven’t played the same XI the whole time in the last three seasons, they’ve picked up injuries and still competed.

“When I look at this team, I’m looking at it going, ‘how have they dropped off so much?’ And the truth is they haven’t invested.

“They’ve relied on [Virgil] van Dijk being unbelievable for a few seasons and now he’s dropped off because of his injury, even though he was brilliant against Man City.

“And the team’s aged. They haven’t invested in it, they haven’t renewed the team and the players they have brought in aren’t good enough like they had in the past, like [Sadio] Mane.

“So the problem that they’ve now got is, is that they’ve taken a step backwards and they’ve got to figure out how to get out of it.

“But I don’t see them getting into the top four. I can’t see them breaking into the top four with that team.”

O’Hara replied: “Yeah of course but they haven’t! Do you want to compete? You’re seeing Newcastle, Arsenal, Chelsea… do you want to compete?

“They won’t even get Jude Bellingham now, they won’t get Bellingham!”

McCoist added: “We’re talking about going for players like Rice and Bellingham, if they’re not in the Champions League you can forget that.”

O’Hara continued: “I still think Liverpool can win the Champions League, I think at the moment they look knackered.

“They look like they have got a hangover from last season, so over the course of a 38-game season in the Premier League I think they’re going to struggle to get in the top four.

“I think they’re a cup competition side, they can still win the FA Cup and I still think they can win the Champions League because if you put them up in a one-game scenario or over two legs, you put them up in a big moment you’ve still got big game players.”

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