How can Liverpool ensure it remains an EPL title contender next season?

HISTORY shows Liverpool in the modern era does not challenge for the big domestic prize consistently, so why should it be different next year?

BARRING a catastrophic slip from Manchester City, Liverpool’s quest to become champions of England will now enter a 25th year.

There was a funereal atmosphere among the red half of Merseyside yesterday as Liverpool players, officials and supporters reflected on the chaotic nine minutes at Selhurst Park the previous evening when their title hopes imploded.

History shows Liverpool in the modern era do not challenge for the big domestic prize consistently, so why should it be different next year?

Here’s some areas of improvement:

NO CASE FOR THE DEFENCE

Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher was blunt after the 3-3 draw against Crystal Palace, saying Liverpool ‘lacked leaders’ at the back. Brendan Rodgers didn’t agree, saying ‘it was about the team’, but privately he will have seen Carragher’s point.

Had Carragher been on the pitch rather than in the Monday Night Football studio, there is little chance Liverpool would have squandered a three-goal lead for the first time since August 2000.

Carragher has not been replaced and Rodgers has had a headache trying to find the right blend in the middle, using combinations of Martin Skrtel, Kolo Toure, Daniel Agger and Mamadou Sakho. The lack of stability is a reason why they have conceded 49 goals.

Liverpool’s attack has won admirers but a record of 10 Premier League clean sheets and conceding two or more goals in 16 league games — Palace were the sixth team to put three past them — must be improved.

Liverpool will look at defenders when they strengthen, with Cardiff’s Steven Caulker of interest.

CAN SOMEONE CALL DR PETERS?

Dr Steve Peters, who will assist England at the World Cup, is a key member of Rodgers’s staff and has an agreement not to work for another Premier League club.

Rodgers has spoken glowingly about the work Peters has done but it could be his biggest test is awaiting. To see Liverpool players scattered across the Selhurst Park pitch would raise concerns the last two games have left a mark.

The manager insists his players are resilient and the experience will help a team that had an average starting age of 25.5 at Palace.

‘We didn’t have (expectancy) last year,’ he said. ‘We are now seeing the power of the club. It’s where we want to be, up there challenging, playing in these games. The disappointment shows it matters.’

REAL ATTEMPT TO LURE SUAREZ

THE most striking image on Monday was Luis Suarez, head buried in his shirt, weeping. This has been the season of a lifetime for the Uruguay striker and the awards he has won are richly deserved.

Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez can’t believe it.

Last week, Suarez said Liverpool have ‘nothing to worry about’ with his future but, for all that, regardless of the long-term contract he signed, there is a sense of unease about his position. Real Madrid have been watching from afar and, when a player catapults himself among the best in the world, the Spanish giants tend to move. Take Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, for example.

Liverpool have received no approach for Suarez since Arsenal’s botched attempt to sign him last year; he is also happy and content. That does not mean, however, the summer will be without anxieties.

NO TIME TO FADE The disappointment of the last two games should not detract from what a superb job Rodgers has done to get Liverpool in a position to challenge.

He is also relentlessly determined and there is not a chance he will sit back and reflect on this campaign as being the summit of his ambition.

It will be difficult next year, with Chelsea and Manchester City ready to strengthen, while Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton and Tottenham will snap at Liverpool’s heels but Rodgers is convinced he has built solid foundations.

DON’T FORGET HOW WELL YOU’VE DONE

Before this campaign started, Liverpool’s principal owner John W Henry outlined his expectations at the club’s plush riverside offices.

‘This club need to be playing in the Champions League,’ he said. Rodgers has delivered a prime objective for Fenway Sports Group. They head straight into the group stages, where Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Real Madrid await. Though it might not seem so now, it is not a bad consolation.

Originally published as How can Liverpool ensure it remains an EPL title contender next season?