REALITY BITES

After defeat by Madrid, the Reds look a shadow of their magnificent former selves, but Klopp says there will be re-adjustment, not a rebuild

strong enough without Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez. He’ll be wondering if this team now needs major surgery.

Perhaps the biggest question concerns his forward line. While Mo Salah will post his second highest-ever scoring stats well before the end of the season and pass 30 goals, his misses against Madrid showed he is not quite peak Salah.

That is still a long way above the form of Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, who appear shadows of the players who formed the most lethal and feared forward line of the previous two years in world football.

So is their form merely a short-term consequence of the ongoing confidence issues Liverpool have endured this season? Or is the famous front three at the end of its shelf life?

Last night, Klopp (above) appeared to suggest he feels the problem is not terminal. “Going out of the Champions League will not affect us negatively,” he said.

“We played a good game, good enough to go through.”

You’d expect nothing less from Klopp immediately post-match, not being a manager who criticises his players. Yet his comments were indicative of a wider thinking.

Indeed, it is not the first time he has pondered the question of whether his side needs a big shake-up – he actually answered it only six weeks ago, with a fairly emphatic: “Rebuild? No!”

His thinking is more subtle. “I don’t think it is time for a massive rebuild like how I understand it – six, seven out,” he said. “The squad of this year didn’t have the chance to play together one time really.

“It would make sense to have a look at it (when they are all back) but, on top of that, of course little readjustments will happen .... reacting to the situation but planning, at the same time, for the future.”

What readjustments? A fourth centre-half for a start. Ozan Kabak is unlikely to be given a permanent contract after his loan period ends, so Liverpool will sign one, most likely RB Leipzig’s promising youngster Ibrahima Konate, though there is still interest in Marseille’s Croatia international Duje Caleta-car.

He must also readjust his forward line. Salah is unlikely to leave despite his posturing over a new contract, but Klopp must look at a replacement for Firmino, even if it is medium-term.

Takumi Minamino’s return from Southampton may provide the answer, but more likely he will sign a young forward with the energy to lead the famous press – and provide it with an intensity it has lacked this season.