Liverpool and Tottenham boast of some of the best players in the league in their respective starting XIs, but not much can be said of their squad players given their struggles in cup competitions and towards the end of every Premier League campaign.
Despite boasting of world-class managers in Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino, the Reds and Spurs are without any silverware of recent, and former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher reckons that is down to their lack of quality depth in the final third.
Klopp’s side currently boast of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah as their front trio, while Harry Kane leads the line on a permanent basis for Spurs.
At Liverpool, Daniel Sturridge, Xherdan Shaqiri, Dominic Solanke and Divock Origi are primarily attacking backups, while Fernando Llorente is Kane’s understudy at Tottenham.
“It’s really difficult for managers to get quality back-up for top class players. Tottenham have got a huge problem as any striker they buy knows he is sitting on the bench,” Carragher said on Monday Night Football, as cited by Liverpool Echo.
“Any attacking player Liverpool buy know they are sitting on the bench because the front three is so good. How do you get someone who has enough quality when you actually need him who is happy to sit on the bench?
“You can’t go out and spend £40-£50million on the player if he’s not going to be in the team.”
While the current form of Sturridge and Shaqiri is a good indicator that Liverpool could finally have quality back-ups to call on this season in attack, it remains to be seen if the duo will be happy to remain permanent squad players going forward.
The England international left for West Bromwich Albion in January as a result of a lack of enough playing time, and should he keep on impressing at this current rate, clubs will surely start seeking his services.
Tottenham have been somewhat overly dependent on Kane up front, and while Llorente seems a decent cover he is far from the quality they need.
No top striker will agree to come to the north London side knowing full well he won’t be displacing the two-time Golden Boot winner, and with such a huge problem, it is unlikely that Spurs will be landing a quality back up striker anytime soon.
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