Liverpool face several critical decision over the next six months to avoid the club becoming destablised following the departures of Jurgen Klopp and his backroom staff at the end of the season, claims Lewis Steele.
Steele, Mail Sport’s Merseyside football reporter, discussed the situation facing the Premier League leaders on the latest episode of It’s All Kicking Off.
The Reds are facing upheaval following Jurgen Klopp’s shock announcement that he will step down as manager after nine years at Anfield last week.
‘I wrote a piece early in the week, sort of somehow comparing Liverpool to a tower of Jenga,’ Steele told host Ian Ladyman.
Jurgen Klopp confirmed last week he will step down as Liverpool boss at the end of the season
Klopp will be followed out of Anfield by assistants Pepijn Lijnders, centre, and Vitor Matos, left
Mail Sport’s Lewis Steele believes key departures could shake Liverpool’s tower of stability
‘It’s not just Klopp that’s been pulled out, it’s Pep Lijnders, Vitor Matos, Pete Krawietz and the sporting director George Schmadtke.
‘It’s five really big pieces being pulled out of the tower.
‘It’s been a tower of stability for the last eight and a half years, it’s been a club that’s been the envy of most of Europe, really. Not many clubs in Europe have been run as well as Liverpool in terms of transfer business.
‘There’s obviously maybe Manchester City and Real Madrid when you look at their squad planning the last few years.
‘But there are now signs that it is starting to shake a little bit. The foundations are obviously very good.
‘But Mike Gordon, the FSG president, who’s running this whole recruitment process from Boston, has got a big task on his hands to get in a sporting director and a manager that not just work in tandem, but they’re going to work for the future of the club.
‘They are in a very good state at the moment, but there are signs that it could become shaky if they don’t get these calls right in the next six months.’
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, who has 18 months left on his deal, initially refused to commit his long-term future to the club after Klopp’s announcement.
Sporting director Jorg Schmadtke left Liverpool at the conclusion of the January window
FSG president Mike Gordon, centre, is leading Liverpool’s crucial recruitment operation
Virgil van Dijk stressed his commitment to the club after initially refusing to commit his future
‘That’s a big question. I don’t know,’ Van Dijk said when asked if he sees himself being part of the next era at Liverpool.
He later claimed his comments had been taken out of context and stressed he is ‘fully committed’ to the project at Anfield.
Steele said Liverpool should not worry about stars leaving this summer, but the future of big names could become an issue if the club do not get the big decisions right.
‘Virgil’s obviously realised that he shouldn’t have said that or he should have said more than he did say because it’s not about what he did say, it’s about what he didn’t say,’ Steele said.
‘He could have easily said, “I love this club and we’ll sit down next summer and talk about the contract or whatever”, but he said, “I don’t know, we’ll have to see”.
‘He went on to sort of say, we’ll have to see what the club looks like in six months time, whether that’s in terms of the manager, sport and director situation.
‘Obviously, there’s nothing to worry about with any of them leaving this summer, but three of their core, probably their three best players realistically, [Mohamed] Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk all out of contract next summer.
‘There’s nothing to worry about imminently, but it could become a problem if they don’t sort themselves out this summer.’
