FOOTBALLING cycles often end without warning. That certainly seems to have been the case with Liverpool this season with Jurgen Klopp’s team already 15 points off the top of the Premier League table when many expected them to be among the title frontrunners once again. A rebuild is clearly required.

Of course, Liverpool have endured a difficult season under Klopp once before when the Reds salvaged a third-place finish after dropping as low as eighth. But the 2020/21 campaign was different to the one currently being suffered. Injuries decimated Liverpool’s defence back then. This time, there are other factors at play.

With so many of Liverpool’s squad now over the age of 30, Klopp will have to reconstruct large parts of his team to raise the level of intensity that has so drastically dropped this season. The Reds can’t waste any time in doing this otherwise they risk being left behind by Manchester City who look stronger than ever.

Liverpool have made good use of the January transfer window in the past, signing Virgil van Dijk for a club-record fee in 2018, and they must start their rebuild as soon as the window opens again after Christmas. The Anfield club can’t wait until the end of the season to move for their long-term targets.

The quicker Liverpool act, the more likely they are to be in a better place by the start of next season. The 2022/23 campaign is already a write off for the Reds, at least with regards to the Premier League, and so the rest of this season must become a period of transition and preparation for what will come in 2023.

Many Liverpool fans point to their team’s midfield as the clearest sign of deterioration at Anfield with Fabinho and Jordan Henderson both fading as physical forces. Thiago Alcantara still has the quality to tie things together, but the Spanish international is also over the age of 30 and has injury issues.

Jude Bellingham has been mentioned as a potential Liverpool target with the England international widely viewed as one of the best young midfielders in the sport right now. Borussia Dortmund will likely demand a club-record fee for Bellingham, but his signing would be a significant investment in the future by Liverpool should they win the race for his signature.

By next summer the likes of Chelsea and Real Madrid will have joined the pursuit of Bellingham and so Liverpool would be wise to make their move in January, even if it ends up costing them more. The cost of missing out on a generational talent who could transform their midfield could be even greater.

“I think the judgment for this should come later on in the season, or maybe at the end,” Klopp said when asked if this season marked the end of an era for this Liverpool squad. “If you say that’s it for this group of players, or for this manager, I don’t think that’s 100% fair in this moment, or to judge the team or the squad, because we never had them available. We expect more from ourselves, the boys expect more, I expect more from them.”

Even if Klopp is publicly calling for patience amid poor results and performances, he is surely thinking ahead and devising plans for the reconstruction of his squad. The best managers constantly evolve their methods and ideas and evolve their teams to reflect this. Klopp and Liverpool are entering a new phase together and there’s no point putting off the transition any longer. They must embrace change, sooner rather than later.