Rio Ferdinand has blamed the poor Premier League outing of Liverpool this season on the aging squad, asking Jurgen Klopp to adopt Sir Alex Ferguson’s approach to trim the team back to form.
The Manchester United legend turned pundit seemed to absolve the former Borussia Dortmund manager of any blame related to Liverpool’s performance this season.
According to him, the Liverpool squad is an aging squad and Jurgen Klopp need to do the needful to return the team to winning ways.
Ferdinand argued that Liverpool’s lackluster and poor run of form is because some of the players in the team have passed their prime and should have been offloaded from the team.
Rio Ferdinand offered a clue and way out for Klopp, asking him to adopt the method of his former and legendary Premier League manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.
The pundit stated that Sir Alex Ferguson did not had scruples ditching players ruthlessly before they approach “the other side of the mountain.”
Ferdinand pointed out that the Scottish-born and highly revered Premier League manager, Alex Ferguson sold David Beckham and Jaap Stam in their prime before they crossed ‘the other side of the mountain and became a liability to the team’.
Speaking on BT Sports, Rio Ferdinand maintained that some of Liverpool’s players have passed their prime
Liverpool defeated in-form Napoli 2-0 at Anfield in the final group games of the Champions League, but they still finished second in the group behind the Serie A giants.
Liverpool lost the first leg of the Choionz League campaign in Italy against Napoli with an outrageous scoreline.
Despite picking up form in subsequent matches in the group, their Premier League form is far below expectation.
They are currently in the ninth position on the table, with only 16 points from 12 games after recording 4 wins, 4 draws, and 4 losses.
Liverpool went into the Napoli game with a disappointing Premier League result from their last match against Leeds.
The Reds suffered a shock 2-1 defeat in front of their home fans at Anfield after a late winner by the visitors sealed a surprising win for the Marsch-led team.
However they were able to put the disappointing result behind and proved a point against Napoli.
Despite the win, Rio Ferdinand has insisted that Liverpool’s problem is far from being solved
He felt that the age of Jurgen Klopp’s side was beginning to be a problem for the team and has advised Klopp to be ruthless in axing off players before they reach their prime.
“Whereas you look at we’re talking about certain players in this Liverpool team who are probably on the other side of the mountain now in terms of where they are in their careers,” he said.
Rio Ferdinand pointed to top Man United stars that was axed by Sir Alex Ferguson, before they turned into dead woods in the team.
Despite their high-profile status at Old Trafford, Ferdinand said Alex Ferguson did the needful to pave way for the continuous growth of the team.
”Jaap Stam was the best defender in the world at the time – “see you later”. David Beckham, in the form of his career – “bye-bye!. Ruud van Nistelrooy, top goalscorer at United, but the man just saw something early, and it’s about making them big calls, the risk involved with that,” he said.
The former Manchester United star, who played under Alex Ferguson from 2002 to 2013, said Klopp must be confident enough to part ways with aging players and scout for new talents elsewhere.
”You have to have the confidence in what you’re doing and you have to have the ability to spot talent elsewhere to bring in and cover that”, he added.
Liverpool have qualified as the second-place team in their Champions League group behind Napoli to the knockouts of the competition and will host Tottenham in the Premier League for their next league game – another top test for Klopp.
