Robbie Fowler believes Liverpool's inconsistency this season largely comes down to young players being relied on in the starting XI too many times.
Harvey Elliott has been a regular starter for the Reds this season in the midfield and his tender age of 19 means he isn't expected to perform week in, week out. The same can be said for new signing Fabio Carvalho.
Former Liverpool striker Fowler highlighted how the depth of the Reds' squad isn't as strong as it has been in recent years with the likes of Sadio Mane, Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino leaving the club in the summer.
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Jurgen Klopp 's side have now lost two Premier League games in a row after a shocking loss away at Nottingham Forest last Saturday was followed up by an even more surprising defeat at home to Leeds.
Fowler wrote in his Mirror column : "I think there is an explanation in a couple of things Klopp said in his press conference before this weekend’s round of fixtures. One, that Liverpool will definitely be stronger after the World Cup.
"And second, that he has some youngsters of real promise who have got some real experience with plenty of game time because of the crazy schedules. I agree with both and I think the two things are linked.
"Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho have had a lot of game time, but I don’t think they’re quite at that top international level yet, and the same can be said of Curtis Jones. And in a nutshell, there you have inconsistency explained. Young players are being asked to do a lot of the heavy lifting this season – Konate is still a novice too – and they are naturally inconsistent.
"Liverpool have returned, a little, to the situation of a few seasons ago when we all said their first team was outstanding, but they needed more squad depth. Last season they had that depth, which is why they could compete so incredibly on four fronts.
"But in the summer, some important squad players left, such as Mane, Origi and Minamino, and they’ve been replaced with... potential. Don’t get me wrong, I think they will all grow into top-class players, potentially world-class talent. Look at City, Real Madrid, even PSG.
"When they need to refresh, they don’t buy young potential, they buy proven talent. Liverpool do it differently – they compete by finding potential and letting Klopp develop that talent. Brilliantly."
He added: "I think in the short term, Liverpool are weaker than last season…and think that means they can’t compete on all fronts this time around. Maybe we’re seeing that in the Premier League, while they’re still playing well in the Champions League.
"But there is a plus side to all this. There’s a good chance the squad will have 20-plus senior players to work with during the international break, at least a month after holidays to get down to some real work on the training ground, and that’s a luxury few of the other top teams will enjoy.
"Will it make them stronger in the second half of the season? As sure as hell it will. They’re still in the Champions League and you can see them being much stronger after Christmas, a real presence in that competition.
"They’ll be stronger in the Premier League too, I’m sure. I have no doubts that Klopp and his team, with all the analytics they do, had looked at the effect of the World Cup and planned their season around it…and the fact they’d have quite a few players not going."
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