Steve McManaman has given his thoughts on whether or not Liverpool should be looking to win the Champions League.
It is quite early to be thinking about an outing to the Puskas Arena in May next year. However, this has not stopped Steve McManaman from offering his verdict on what Liverpool should be aiming to get out of their latest Champions League campaign.
The former Liverpool winger spoke just before the transfer window closed about why his old club should be attempting to win the competition. He believes that they should be targeting success, having spent more than £400m in the summer.
McManaman told Sports Mole: “Arne Slot should be looking to win it, definitely. Liverpool have invested heavily and I expect them to have new players in by the time the transfer window closes.
“Slot should absolutely be earmarking the Champions League, as well as the Premier League, as the competitions to win. He has to earmark them.”
Liverpool do not have an easy fixture list in the league phase, but McManaman is happy with the way the home and away ties have fallen. After all, they were handed a home advantage against the two heavyweights from Madrid.
This proved useful against Atletico Madrid, as Liverpool secured a 3-2 victory on the opening week of the Champions League.
“Liverpool’s group is good,” he continued. “They play against the best teams at home, which is great. They don’t have to play in the Carabao Cup [until later], which will help when coming back to the Premier League.
“The standout away games are Galatasaray and Inter Milan, but they won in the San Siro last year. PSV [Eindhoven], they’ve played before, and this time they’ve got them at home. Marseille will be a good tie.”
McManaman has acknowledged that Slot attempted to win the Champions League last season, but the Dutchman’s team fell short against the best side in the tournament.
PSG knocked out three Premier League teams in total and have already claimed victories over Atalanta and Barcelona in this season’s competition.
He added: “Slot tried to prioritise the Champions League last year, but he just lost on penalties to the team that went and eventually won it.
“He’ll certainly be looking to do the same thing again. The draw that Liverpool got, like most teams in this new format, throws up some really good ties, some difficult ties, some few easier ties and some middle of the road ties.”
Liverpool may have been defeated in the last 16 last season, but they came closer to knocking out PSG than any other team did. Had the penalty shootout resulted in victory, Slot’s team could well have gone on to win the competition.
The Premier League champions have strengthened over the summer and ought to ready to take on Europe’s finest teams.
However, they suffered a defeat to Galatasaray last time out in Europe and this is just one of many poor results. In fact, it has been almost a month since Liverpool last earned any points from a match.
McManaman is right that his former club should be in a position to compete for the Champions League, but something needs to change very soon.
Liverpool’s next fixture is against Eintracht Frankfurt and it is essential that Slot secures a win to restore the belief of the club’s supporters.
