Jamie Carragher Urges Liverpool to Strengthen Depth in Attack
By Tom Gott
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has heaped praise on Liverpool front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané, but he urged the Reds to find some better cover for the trio.
Salah, Firmino and Mané have managed a combined 38 league goals this season, but there are real concerns about the depth behind them. Divock Origi, Xherdan Shaqiri and January signing Takumi Minamino have contributed just four goals between them.
Obviously the reserve group are forced to accept less minutes than the starting trio, but many fans fear that a major injury to one of their stars could leave Liverpool well off the pace.
Salah was left on the bench for Sunday's dull 0-0 draw with Everton through injury, and Carragher told Sky Sports that he has noticed Liverpool always seem to struggle when one of their top three are not playing.
"The front three are as good as anyone in Europe but whenever one of them is out, there is a massive drop off," he said. "When Liverpool dropped points at Manchester United, Salah wasn't playing. That's why Liverpool need to strengthen the front three.
"Divock Origi is a legend for Liverpool as he's scored big goals at big moments but doesn't have quite the quality. Is Minamino part of the front three? Not for me. The front three are very robust and don't miss many games but if Liverpool were to lose one of them, especially the two wide players, for a lengthy amount of time they could have a real problem next season."
It's a hypothetical situation which could become a reality for Liverpool next season. The 2021 African Cup of Nations is scheduled to take place across January and February, and Salah and Mané will both expect to enjoy deep runs in the competition with Egypt and Senegal respectively.
RB Leipzig's Timo Werner was expected to be the man to fix the problem, but Liverpool declined to meet his release clause and opened the door for Chelsea to swoop in and strike a £47.5m deal to land the German.
High-profile alternatives like Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho and Bayer Leverkusen's Kai Havertz have been suggested, and there's seemingly no way to escape from the utter dross that is the story of an imminent move for Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappé.
Those deals are obviously not happening, and given the lack of funds available this summer, the famed scouting team at Anfield might have their work cut out for them if they are to find affordable targets.