‘Unbelievably clever’ spending has given Liverpool near-perfect start: Robbie Fowler

SINGAPORE – English giants Liverpool have thrown away leads in the Community Shield, English Premier League, Champions League and League Cup this season, prompting critics to suggest that their title defence could be in trouble, but former Reds striker believes their start has been “close to perfection”.

After

losing the Community Shield to Palace on penalties

, Arne Slot’s men have racked up seven straight wins – six of which were single-goal victories, and six through goals scored after 80th minute.

In an email interview ahead of their Sept 26 away match against Palace, the 50-year-old told The Straits Times: “Liverpool have been brilliant, and I don’t subscribe to the narrative that they’re just grinding out wins.

“They’ve been dominant for large portions of their games, which is a sign of a very successful and very good team. A team that knows it’s never beaten – that’s not grinding out results; that’s playing the full 90 minutes. If it takes 89 minutes to score a goal, then so be it.

“Liverpool have had a great start. The manager has a new squad of players, and we shouldn’t forget that they’re probably still trying to find their rhythm. But to me, their start has been close to perfection.”

It has been one of the club’s busiest, and certainly most expensive, transfer season, as they signed 15 players, including forwards Alexandre Isak for €145 million (S$219 million), Florian Wirtz for €125 million and Hugo Ekitike for €95 million.

The total bill came up to €484.68 million, more than the expenditure of the previous four seasons combined, though it was mitigated by the departures of 12 players for €219.50 million.

Their splurging has raised some eyebrows, but not from Fowler, the Reds legend who is No. 2 on the club’s list of top goal scorers in the league (128).

He said: “It’s interesting how people talk about Liverpool ‘splurging’ now, especially since for years, no one mentioned that the club weren’t spending much. People overlook the massive spending of clubs like Man City, Arsenal, and Chelsea, but as soon as Liverpool spend a bit of money, it becomes a big deal.

“Liverpool have been unbelievably clever with the players they’ve brought in. Their nett spend has been brilliant, and the club are managed as well as any in the world.

“They’re signing proven players. These signings are about bringing quality into the team to make an already excellent team even better. We shouldn’t get caught up in the spending narrative.”

Convincing talisman Mohamed Salah to stay for a ninth season at Anfield will also provide some stability and continuity that could be key to Liverpool’s title defence, he added.

While he does not think the 248-goal Egyptian can overtake Ian Rush’s club record of 346, Fowler said: “Salah is an incredible football player. He’s a Liverpool player who is happy with the club’s profile and direction. That’s great news for us as supporters.”

The former England striker named three clubs who could stand in Liverpool’s way as they aim to win back-to-back EPL crowns for the first time. A 21st top-flight title will also break them out of a tie with Manchester United as the most successful English club.

He said: “Arsenal have spent a bit of money, and so has Chelsea, so I think they are the two big ones. Manchester City will obviously win a lot of games – I know they’ve not had a great start themselves, but they will be there or thereabouts by the end of the season.”

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