John Aldridge: 'Bad recruitment' is reason why Liverpool failed to win title in past 25 years

Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge has blamed the Reds' signings as the main reason for failing to win the Premier League title in the past 25 years.

Brendan Rodgers' side came close to winning the league title last season, but lost the race to Manchester City. Last summer, the Merseyside club sold their star player Luis Suarez to Barcelona and made a record-spending on signing nine players.

Rickie Lambert, Mario Balotelli, Javier Manquillo and Dejan Lovren have all struggled in their debut season at Anfield. Liverpool last won the league title 25 years ago and Aldridge has slammed their transfer business as he claims the signings done in the last 20 years would struggle to make it to the reserves of the 1970s and 80s.

"It's easy to point the finger at individuals, and to look at the various examples of mismanagement, throughout the club, that have gone on in the last 25 years. But for me, Liverpool's demise comes down to one thing above all others; bad recruitment," Aldridge told the Liverpool Echo.

"It's a hot topic at the moment, transfers. It always is, to be honest. But in my eyes, it's the single biggest reason why Liverpool fell off their perch, and the main reason they have been unable to get back on there."

"Think about it; how many players have we signed since that last title win? I'll tell you, it's 185. One hundred and eighty-five players brought into the club. How many of those players would you say were unqualified successes? I'd suggest not many. Fifty, maybe? How many, on the other hand, have been unqualified failures? I'd estimate, conservatively, at least 100."

"A hundred footballers signed by this club in the last quarter of a century, who would not have got into our reserve team during the 1970s and 80s. That tells you everything. Whoever the manager, whoever is in charge of the signings. We just don't buy well enough, and it costs us dearly," he added.

In addition to this, Liverpool lost out on signing Alexis Sanchez as the Chilean snubbed the Reds for Arseanl. He was set to be included as a part of the deal, which allowed Barcelona to sign Suarez.

Sanchez has been a key player in the Gunners' resurgence this term. Aldridge believes things would have been different for Liverpool, if the former Barcelona star had made a switch to Anfield.

"Look at this season, for example. How much different would our campaign have been had we got our business right last summer? How much different would it be had we had signed Alexis Sanchez?" the former Reds striker said.

"We held all the cards with that one. We had Luis Suarez, and Barcelona wanted him. Suarez should not have been allowed to join Barcelona until Sanchez was signed on at Anfield. If we'd have done that deal, our season would have been very different. And so would Arsenal's," he concluded.