How Liverpool will replace four Premier League winners leaving Anfield at the start of a new era

How Liverpool will replace four Premier League winners leaving Anfield at the start of a new era

James Milner, Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will all leave the club at the end of the season and there will be massive changes at the Reds.

We’ve known for a long time that Liverpool are about to change, but that change has certainly gained momentum in the last week.
The announcements that James Milner, Roberto Firmino, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would all be leaving Liverpool were long overdue, but it was still a sight to see those departures confirmed by the club.
The long-anticipated Red Revolution will now gain momentum as newcomers come aboard in the summer, but there are certainly specific challenges at stake when it comes to replacing the successful quartet.
This is what Liverpool will have

He may not contribute as much on the pitch as he once did, but culturally Milner is probably the hardest of the quartet to replace at the c
The vice-captain has been so instrumental in setting the standards at Liverpool over the years that there is a door to a first-team suite named after him at the Kirkby training ground.
As Jordan Henderson’s second-in-command, Milner has been a crucial addition to Klopp’s “management team,” which jumped from four players to six in the summer of 2021 following the departure of Gini Wijnaldum. Henderson, Milner and Virgil van Dijk remained the three main band members, joined by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and Alisson.

With Milner gone, Van Dijk would be expected to become vice-captain and in the front group there could be a role for Mo Salah – who has long expressed his desire to be seen as a leader in the club.
It won’t be too difficult to replace Milner’s minutes on the pitch, even if his skill already is.
With Joe Gomez, Calvin Ramsay and possibly a new right-back, there will be ample cover for Alexander-Arnold (in his starting position, at least) and we all know new midfielders will be in sight as well.

“When people think of Naby, they probably think of a few injuries too many,” was Klopp’s correct assertion on Friday. “But when you look at the important games, you realize how many times he played for us in super important games and how many times he performed well in those games.”

And he was right about that, as 100 of Keita’s 129 Liverpool appearances came in the three seasons that saw him win the Champions League, Premier League, Club World Cup, FA Cup and the League Cup.
He may not have played a starring role in all of those triumphs, but he has often played an important role, and as part of the team he will have to be replaced over the summer. Preferably with a less injury prone body.
“Naby, everyone knows we spent a lot of money, so of course there were a lot of expectations,” Klopp continued.
“Due to badly timed injuries, he couldn’t fill them all, but a lot.” Go back and watch the big, big games. The goals he scored, the games he played and the football he got to play in his good times.”

Those good times were key to Klopp’s plan and as a player profile at least, it’s probably safe to say that Liverpool will provide the most equal replacements after the Guinean’s departure.
How to replace the irreplaceable? Well you can’t, but Liverpool have already shown that Cody Gakpo will be a key part of their attack after his arrival in January.
Much has been said about the Dutchman having learned of the ‘role of Firmino’ during his short spell with the Reds so far and it looks like he is the player the coaching staff are looking for to build up the midfield and attacking in this way Firmino did. skillfully throughout his time at the club. Players like Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho could perhaps even be reshaped into something like that type of player as Curtis Jones continues to thrive in his position at number 8 left.

Firmino’s number 9 shirt is likely to pass to Darwin Nunez, and it promises to be fascinating to see how he fares in his second season at the club as he looks to build on the good things he did in his first season and shrugs it off. the bad.
There is only one Firmino, however, and for the moment it seems unlikely that Liverpool will be looking for a comparable replacement for the popular Brazilian, as there are frankly none you can just pull off the shelf.
That brutal knee injury at the end of his outstanding first season with the Reds was one he recovered from physically, but you always felt he continued to take its toll mentally.
“Ox has been unlucky at times,” Klopp said on Friday. “Injuries, serious injuries at the absolutely wrong time. I remember the match against Roma when he was seriously injured.
“I didn’t know how to handle this situation. He was so good and at that time almost irreplaceable.