'The spine of Liverpool's next great team is already assembled'
Take a look at Liverpool's goalscorers on Sunday - Mohamed Salah and Virgil Van Dijk. Salah became the first goalscorer in a Merseyside derby at the Hill Dickinson. Van Dijk netted the latest ever winning goal in a Merseyside derby.
[BBC] [BBC] Take a look at Liverpool's goalscorers on Sunday - Mohamed Salah and Virgil Van Dijk. Just when you thought there would be no more moments, no more history, no more footnotes in the annals of the living legends, they add one more line. Salah became the first goalscorer in a Merseyside derby at the Hill Dickinson.
Van Dijk netted the latest ever winning goal in a Merseyside derby. Somewhere, someone is updating the history books. Salah, Van Dijk, Alisson, Andy Robertson, even Trent Alexander-Arnold, all stand as monuments to quality.
They represent irreplaceable and unique talents that have carved their names into the rich history of the football club, season after season. But nothing lasts forever, especially not in football, and time has caught up with Liverpool's roster of modern-day greats. That's why in the summer the Reds bought the best striker on the market for £125m in Alexander Isak.
And it's also why they paid up to £79m for the second-best striker on the market — Hugo Ekitike. It's why Liverpool signed Florian Wirtz for £115m instead of Rayan Cherki. Now, it's fair to say that sitting in fifth place and on track for a record number of defeats in a season this century, that the gamble on quality hasn't gone to plan.