Manchester United legend Gary Neville has showered huge praise on Liverpool's illustrious front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane, who left the Reds for Bayern Munich last year.
Liverpool have established themselves as one of the best sides in the world under the helm of Jurgen Klopp over the past six years due to their renowned offensive trio. Prior to Mane's exit last summer, the trio helped the club lift six trophies, including the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League crown and the 2019-20 Premier League title.
Speaking to ECHO, Neville shared his thoughts on the Reds' ongoing issues and reminisced about their iconic frontline. He elaborated:
"There's an element of maybe Liverpool allowing their team to grow a bit too old together and not maybe nudging it forward as much as they should have done while they were at the top. But that comes down to finance. How can they get better players than what they had? The front three was as good as I've ever seen."
Lauding Salah, Firmino and Mane, the Manchester United great added:
"The best front three over the last 10 years, forget City, it was Mane, Salah and Firmino. They were the best since Manchester United had [Wayne] Rooney, [Cristiano] Ronaldo and [Carlos] Tevez, they were unbelievable. That Liverpool front three has set the standard over the last 10 years, so too the back four with [Virgil] Van Dijk, [Andrew] Robertson, [Trent] Alexander-Arnold and Alisson [Becker]."
Defending Klopp for his team's recent downfall, Neville continued:
"Maybe they have grown a little too old together, but that's not a criticism of Jurgen Klopp. He didn't have the £100 milllion he probably would have needed at the time to change the players. Yes, he's brought in Darwin Nunez recently, but maybe it was too late in terms of keeping things going as they were."
Salah, Firmino and Mane scored a combined 338 goals and laid out a total of 155 assists during their five seasons together at Anfield.
Liverpool hope to rebuild attack with Darwin Nunez and former Manchester United target
After Sadio Mane's £35 million permanent transfer to Bayern Munich last summer, Liverpool signed Darwin Nunez from Benfica for an initial £64 million. The club also roped in Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven for £37 million last month, beating Manchester United in the process.
However, both attackers have come under fire in the ongoing 2022-23 season for not living up to their expectations. While the Uruguayan has attracted criticism for his wasteful nature, the Dutchman is yet to open his account in five appearances for the Merseyside outfit.
The Reds are currently without Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota's services too.