Alan Hansen has pin-pointed the up-coming games against Manchester City and Arsenal as a way of measuring the squad's strength in depth.
City visit Anfield on Monday night, with the Reds travelling to the Emirates six days later to face Arsene Wenger's men.
The Kop legend believes the two games will give manager Kenny Dalglish a good evaluation of his current squad's capabilities.
"They are both mega games," said Hansen in his LFC Weekly Column.
"The thing about them is one is at home and the other is away, it will give Kenny a realistic assessment of where Liverpool are at present.
"He already knows what areas need strengthening but back to back games against top teams give you a real sense of how capable your players are."
The Scot was quick to highlight the strength in depth that City possess since being taken over by Sheikh Mansour in 2008.
He added: "You don't necessarily look at their players and think that they are brilliant, but they have spent £15-25m on squad players. That gives them strength in depth.
"If you look at the players who are on their bench and who don't make their bench and have been loaned out - such as (Emmanuel) Adebayor, (Craig) Bellamy, (Roque) Santa Cruz and (Wayne) Bridge - it emphasizes how much they have spent to build their squad."
Hansen is also predicting a busy summer transfer window for the Reds, as they look to build on a squad that was bolstered by the arrival of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll in January.
"Realistically we need to get closer to them sooner rather than later and that means this summer will be particularly important for Liverpool," he said.
"We're not a million miles away from Man City. The way we can bridge the gap is by bringing in the right players with the right qualities this summer."
No comments:
Post a Comment