Arsenal legend Thierry Henry believes Jurgen Klopp will have a difficult time rebuilding Liverpool without some of his experienced horsemen since the Reds are nearing the end of an era. In the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 against Real Madrid, Liverpool were humiliated as they gave up a 2-0 lead to lose 5-2 at Anfield.

The Reds, who had taken the lead with goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah within the first 15 minutes, were outclassed by braces from Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema and an acrobatic header from Eder Militao. Henry also acknowledged that he has been worried about Liverpool’s defence for some time but that Klopp’s team is currently too weak and needs urgent improvement.

Henry feels ‘some things need to be changed’ at Liverpool but backs Klopp to turn it around

Liverpool’s struggles continued against Real as they have against other teams in all competitions. The Reds sit eighth in the Premier League with a risk of losing out on a top four and subsequently Champions League football next season. They are also already out of the two domestic cups, the FA Cup and League Cup. Klopp has been under immense pressure to turn his side’s fortunes, whereas Henry feels the German must first fix his leaking defence. The ex-striker told CBS Sports:

“They conceded too many goals against Brentford, Wolves and Brighton – let alone before you play a team like Real Madrid. I wanted to know where they were and I saw a fragile team. More than fragile, why? They were 2-0 up. That’s exactly the start you would like to have against a Madrid team or any team in Europe at Anfield and they couldn’t even keep that.

“Yes, Alisson made a mistake but they didn’t bail him out. Thibaut Courtois makes a mistake – that’s a big team, they bailed him out. They are fragile and some things need to change. I don’t think Jurgen Klopp needs to go but some players don’t have the level anymore to play for Liverpool. It happens to the best, it happened to me. It’s the end of an era.”

Henry in particular thought it was a major red flag for Klopp to address in his team that veteran Luke Modric, who is 37 years old, was let to dominate the game for the European champions by gliding past the Reds midfielders. The Frenchman continued:

“I’m not having a go at Liverpool. They are not playing well they are conceding a lot. We all love what they have done recently. It’s a tough one, they are conceding five at home and getting outplayed.

“When I see a guy like Luka Modric at his age getting the ball and bursting forward in midfield like they were not there and passing the ball to Vinicius and Vinicius passing the ball to Benzema and him toying with the keeper, I just think that is not good enough that team gave us so much.

“But right now they are not good so they need to reinvent themselves and keep their head up until the end of the season.”

Henry’s fellow colleague on punditry duties and former Reds defender Jamie Carragher called Liverpool’s defensive collapse a ‘disgrace’ and even insisted he could ‘take the place of Virgil van Dijk’. Liverpool’s defensive collapse received considerable condemnation. Steve McManaman, a former teammate of Carragher’s at Liverpool, also discussed the Reds’ unexpected loss, calling it a ‘horror show’ and that they were ripped apart.