Gary Gillespie: loss of Suarez won’t cripple Liverpool

Gary Gillespie believes Liverpool can shake off losing Luis Suarez to mount a title challenge again this season.

Gary Gillespie admits that the world was very different the last time Liverpool were champions of England.

When the Scottish centre-back celebrated winning the title back in 1990, there was no such thing as the Internet, and mobile phones were the size of bricks. But Gillespie believes that his club are edging ever closer to ending the long drought.

He certainly doesn’t subscribe to the theory that they blew their chance last season and that they’ll never get a better one.

Other pundits disagree. Gary Neville said that, having come within two points of Manchester City, Liverpool won’t even finish in the top four this time.

Neville’s views were based on the fact that City, Chelsea and Arsenal have all improved their squads, that Manchester United can’t be as bad again and that Liverpool have lost Luis Suarez.

“I understand where Gary is coming from,” says Gillespie. “He’s looked at the others and found reasons why it won’t be them to miss out.

“But I don’t go along with that. I believe Liverpool will have a big say. I’m not saying they WILL win it but they certainly CAN win it.

“Of course they will miss Suarez, but his absence doesn’t cripple them. The team is full of players who can make a difference Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling, Philippe Coutinho.

“With players like that, you always have a chance. I think Chelsea and City are slightly ahead of the others, but not by much.

“United will be stronger and Arsenal have always qualified for the Champions League, but I don’t think it’s a given that they will both be top four.

“Under David Moyes last season, United were awful. When Liverpool beat them at Old Trafford, they were the most disappointing United team I’ve ever seen.

“I’m sure Louis Van Gaal will improve them, but it’s asking a lot to change things so quickly. Arsenal have a new kind of pressure. Now they’re spending money, there’s more expectation to win trophies.

“Liverpool are young, vibrant and exciting. They are an emerging side who are only going to improve.

“They have Europe to negotiate this time but it shouldn’t be a distraction. Virtually all clubs who win the Premier League are also involved in the Champions League.”

Gillespie sees some parallels to that last Championship-winning season for the Reds, when his team bounced back after the devastation of losing the league on the last kick of the season against Arsenal to reclaim their crown 12 months later.

“The league is the Holy Grail for Liverpool,” he says. “1990 is so long ago, it seems like a different world. There are those who think football didn’t exist before the Premier League!

“After we lost the title to Arsenal, we used the pain to drive us on the following season. The disappointment must have been similar for the current squad, and it would be lovely to think this team can respond like we did.

“Psychology will play a great part. They have to make sure they take the positives from last season, not the negatives.

“I don’t see what happened as a disappointment. It would have been unprecedented to go from seventh to first in one year. Brendan Rodgers is way ahead of the schedule he set.

“The title was lost in the Chelsea home game, and not because Steven Gerrard slipped.

“They were naive to think they could blow away a Jose Mourinho team in the way they had beaten other rivals like Arsenal and Everton.

“I’ve no worries about Steven. He is a strong character. He’ll be bitterly disappointed with what happened with Liverpool and England at the World Cup but he will be up for the fight.

“Overall he was magnificent last season. Nothing short of sensational. If any player deserves the title, it’s him. He might not play all the games this season, but he’ll be there for the important ones.

“For years he carried an average Liverpool side. Every player used to look at him to create something special.

“It’s not like that now. Jordan Henderson gives the team the drive and energy Steven used to. Others, like Sterling and Coutinho, have stepped up on the creative side.

“It will be a big year for Sturridge. He scored 21 League goals last season and was always in the shadow of Suarez. But I never felt they had a true partnership. They were two individuals playing well at the same time.

“The big question this season is whether Daniel can take his career to the next level.”

Rodgers has increased the depth of the squad with the acquisition of Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Dejan Lovren from Southampton, plus Emre Can, Lazar Markovic, Javi Manquillo and Alberto Moreno.

As a former central defender, it’s the signing of Lovren that has most gripped Gillespie’s attention.

“He looks a very good addition,” he says. “He improved Southampton’s defence when he arrived and will do the same for Liverpool. He’s a strong character with leadership and organisational qualities that the back four has lacked since Jamie Carragher retired.

“He’s a very dominant player and I see him as a future Liverpool captain. They probably won’t score 100 goals again, but I think they’ll also concede fewer and that’s vital.

“There’s always a concern that there might be too many new faces. But Brendan Rodgers has an established way of playing and the new players will fit into the roles that are already there.”