It's not about having the best players: Carragher makes worrying Liverpool admission ahead of season opener

New Delhi, Aug 13 (IANS) Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher does not understand the narrative that has labelled Liverpool as favourites to defend their league title, claiming there is much more to football than buying the best players. Carragher cited Sunday’s Community Shield as a prime example of how unpredictable football is, with Crystal Palace defeating Liverpool on penalty shootouts.

"I don't get this narrative that Liverpool are going to run away with it. If you look at history, it could tell you that it's not just about having the best players, it's about having the best team, and sort of making that balance right, and at the weekend [in the Community Shield] it didn't quite look right.

"I think we will have a title race, and I think there's a lot of talk. I think the great thing about football is what we actually saw on Sunday with Liverpool.

"It didn't look right. It tells me it's not just about spending lots of money and buying the best players, you've still got to manage that team and make it work and have a nice balance to it,” Carragher was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

Liverpool, unlike previous seasons, have gone all out in their summer transfer window spending, which has seen them sign Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, and Armin Pecsi, for an accumulated transfer fee of approximately 270 million Pounds.

It is looking increasingly likely that Newcastle's Alexander Isak could join, and the Swedish striker is highly valued at Newcastle, which could result in another high transfer fee. The Reds have also ramped up their efforts to sign Palace captain March Guehi, after chairman Steve Parish admitted the defender is for sale.

--IANS

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