Liverpool at risk of getting pushed out if Jurgen Klopp cannot push side on

Kop fans must be very concerned that Liverpool have made no big-name signings this summer.

Where are the players whose arrivals would make the dressing-room sit up and think: ‘We’d better push ourselves even more this season because the gaffer is getting serious’?

Even with reinforcements it would be very difficult for the Reds to match last season’s form; without them it would be almost impossible.

Don’t get me wrong, we know the title-winners have an excellent mentality, so of course they will be competitive once again. Under boss Jurgen Klopp, that’s ­practically a given.

But history tells us that players need pushing most when they have just won something and Liverpool’s squad will be no different.

The big question ahead of last season was whether or not my old club could go again after losing the title race by a point. The answer was found in the 18-point gap between them and their biggest rivals Manchester City at the end of the season. But I’m not so sure the ­hunger is as fierce when you’re defending champions.

The only thing that gives me comfort is the fact they have won several trophies ­recently and clearly like the feeling.

The question heading into the new season has to be whether Liverpool have enough players to turn what is clearly a very good team into a generational team like the Manchester United side of the nineties and noughties. United boss Sir Alex Ferguson created a dynasty by constantly freshening things up with marquee signings. Liverpool haven’t yet done that.

Rio Ferdinand arrived at Old Trafford as the world’s most expensive defender. Then you had players like Jaap Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Juan Veron.

Signings like that say: ‘This is a test for you in the dressing-room now.’ Compare that to the message Liverpool’s dressing-room has received with the arrival of only full-back ­Konstantinos Tsimikas in the summer and Takumi Minamino in January.

That’s why I like the ­Antoine Griezmann rumour – if Liverpool were to get the French international striker then the dressing-room would be thinking the cavalry had ­finally arrived.

But if you don’t have that you start thinking: ‘Hang on, we might yet lose Gini Wijnaldum, we haven’t really brought anyone in, can we push on?’

Manchester City already have the best squad in the Premier League, arguably ­Europe, and their fans don’t have the same expectation levels as Liverpool’s.

If Pep Guardiola’s men don’t win the league it’s almost a case of: ‘We’re City, no one expects us to win it. If we do they’ll say we should win it because of the cash we spend.’

Going into the season, City are my favourites because I fear Liverpool might just have some problems.

Chelsea have bought some fantastic players but it’s going to take time for them to gel – it would be unrealistic to ­expect five or six signings to hit the ground running.

Then you’re looking at Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal, and it’s a toss-up which of those clubs finish in fourth, fifth and sixth.

Right at the top it will be between Liverpool and City again, though, and if Liverpool want to defend their title then they have to get the cheque-book out.

Will Liverpool win another Premier League title in 2020/21? Have your say in the comments below

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