Former Liverpool player and manager Graeme Souness has rubbished a theory relating to Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool’s current form struggles.

The German spent seven years in both of his last two jobs at Mainz and Dortmund before moving on, but Souness claims the length of time that Klopp has been in the job is not relevant. He believes the main issue is an ageing squad:

“I don’t see the comparison between Mainz and Dortmund. I don’t see it being a seven-year thing. Just a gigantic coincidence. It’s complete tosh. If you’ve had success, going down a certain road, do you all of a sudden change it? It’s personnel. It’s not him. One (area) where I think they’ve made a mistake is the midfield; screaming out for strengthening. You’ve got Thiago Alcantara, 31, Jordan Henderson, 32, (James) Milner, (nearly) 37. Keita, for me, isn’t good enough. I think that’s a fairly obvious area where you need to strengthen.”

There is definitely some truth in what Souness is saying. The midfield has struggled to protect the backline this season, and it has been an area of the pitch that has been the cause of much debate.

The failed pursuit of Aurelien Tchouameni clearly demonstrated that Klopp wanted to instill fresh energy in the middle of the park during the summer transfer window.

However, it is certainly not the only problem that the Reds are facing. This team came very close to winning the quadruple last season and the massive drop-off in form can’t be explained away by simply saying that a few players are too old.