Henchoz doubts Champions League aspirations

Following on from the disastrous start to the campaign, former Reds defender Stephane Henchoz says that the club don’t have a chance of qualifying for the Champions League this term. The 38-year-old also claims that Brendan Rodgers’ men will be lucky to finish in the top six and has even listed countless other teams that he thinks could finish above Liverpool.

While it may not be very refreshing for supporters to read such comments, the former Switzerland defender at least stated that he thought Rodgers was the best man to take the club forward. However, this was the main positive in an otherwise dull interview, with Henchoz telling the press, “I think for me, don’t speak about top four finish… I don’t know which order but the top four will remain… United, City, Arsenal, Chelsea. And then you’ve got teams, maybe Everton, Tottenham, Newcastle, Liverpool… it’s another four teams competing for fifth to eighth. So top six is realistic, but I don’t think it will be easy. So I think Brendan Rodgers won’t be able to do miracles over a fortnight with the squad he’s got.”

Henchoz was also quite candid in several other regards and even went as far as saying that the likes of Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson aren’t of the required standard of typical Liverpool players. This is certainly an area that practically all supporters will agree with, with neither of last season’s big money signings pulling up any trees at Anfield since their switches. This comes despite the fact that many tipped an upsurge in form following the appointment of Rodgers in the summer.

Of course, Henchoz also has every reason to make such comments about the club’s Champions League ambitions after such a poor start to the season. Rodgers and his squad will certainly be hoping to improve matters on Saturday afternoon though, as they prepare to travel to Norwich as favourites in the hunt for the first three points of the season.