Steven Gerrard claims Liverpool ‘need a midfielder who can score more than 10 goals a season’

Steven Gerrard has said that Liverpool need to find themselves a central midfielder who is going to chip in with goals to help ease the attacking burden on the front three.

Liverpool struggled to find a way past Thibaut Courtois in the Real Madrid goal on a disappointing night in Paris as they saw their dream of a seventh Champions League flitter away. 

Speaking after Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat, Gerrard appeared to suggest that the squad needed some work, with a midfielder who was going to ‘get in the box and get you goals’ being the most pressing priority. 

Steven Gerrard said this Liverpool team needed an ‘8’ who is going to be able to get goals

He said on BT Sport: ‘Jordan Henderson and James Milner are not getting any younger.’

‘They’re still top players at this level, of course, and they’ll want to go on and do more,’ he added. 

‘But for Liverpool, if you think about the next five, six, seven years, they’re going to need a midfielder, an eight, who can get goals, who can get double figures.

The former Liverpool captain said his old side were too reliant on their front three for goals

‘They are heavily reliant on the front three — or the front five if you include Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino.

‘You always need one of those midfielders that’s going to get in the box and get you goals.’

Liverpool’s top scoring midfielder was Fabinho this season with eight in all competitions, three of those came from the penalty spot.

The Reds’ next best goalscoring return from one of their regular central midfielders was Naby Keita, dropped for Saturday’s final, with four.  

Steven Gerrard claimed that Liverpool needed to refresh their midfield with a goalscorer

Gerrard watched on alongside fellow pundits Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen as Liverpool’s dream of completing a magnificent treble of the League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League disappeared on a difficult all-round night in the French capital. 

Meanwhile, news emerged on Sunday suggesting forward Sadio Mane has decided to depart the club this summer for a fresh challenge. It has been reported he is wanting to move to Bayern Munich in Germany. 

Gerrard, however, on Saturday night advised him and team-mate Mohamed Salah, who is yet to sign a new deal with the club with his contract due to expire next June, to remain with Liverpool as pastures are rarely greener. 

Liverpool’s players toiled but were unable to find the back of the net on a tough night in Paris

It has been reported that Sadio Mane has decided to leave Liverpool this summer

Fabinho was Liverpool’s highest scoring midfielder this season with eight goals in all competitions

He said: ‘Salah has already said that he is going to be here next year, I know there is a bit of noise around Mane. 

‘But why would you want to leave this Liverpool team because you know that they are going to be competitive in the business end of the season?’

Arsene Wenger, who himself saw his Arsenal side lose at the very same ground in Paris in 2006, said Liverpool’s forwards came up short on the night and were not able to find that ‘special moment’ in beating Courtois. His comments perhaps back up Gerrard’s call for a refresh of Liverpool’s midfield. 

‘You felt as well that Salah, Mane, the guys who make the difference, didn’t have the same freshness, the same belief that they can make the difference. Overall they came short, we must be honest, because of Courtois,’ he told BeIN Sports. 

‘I felt at some stage that if Liverpool came back to 1-1 they’d come back and win the game. But they never found that special moment where they could finish their chances off, and a lot of that is down to Courtois.’

Arsene Wenger said that many of Liverpool’s missed opportunities were down to the imperious Thibaut Courtois