Liverpool legend John Barnes says Liverpool’s season should be judged on their Premier League finishing position rather than any cup success.
After taking up the Liverpool reins in October 2015, Jurgen Klopp led the Reds to the finals of the Capital One Cup and Europa League last season, but an eighth-place finish in the Premier League means they will not be competing in Europe in 2016/17.
Liverpool finished 21 points behind champions Leicester City last season and Barnes says they must close the gap to the country’s best this campaign.
“The aim for Liverpool this season should be pushing up the league and challenging. We’d like to challenge to win the league but we finished eighth last year so you can’t say ‘unless we finish second or third it’s not success’. But as long as we’re moving in the direction and we’re competitive in every game we play and coming into April we are still not far off the top of the league, that’s success.
“I wouldn’t put them under pressure to say ‘unless we finish in the top four it’s not success’ because we could finish fifth and be six points off first or fourth and 30 points off first.
“Liverpool must aim to finish as close as possible to the top in terms of points, which would mean we’re competing with whoever wins the league. That would be success: Liverpool right in the mix with the best teams.”
Liverpool have already spent big money in the transfer window, with a £36m outlay on Southampton’s Sadio Mane and the £25m purchase of Newcastle’s Georginio Wijnaldum. Defenders Joel Matip and Ragnar Klavan have also arrived from Germany, along with goalkeepers Loris Karius and Alex Manninger.
By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10