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Liverpool Premier League • England England legend backs Andoni Iraola to unleash Liverpool trio as £34m uncertainty removed by FSG Liverpool have been told that the “uncertainty” that hung over Mohamed Salah and the club last season will no longer be an issue, with Andoni Iraola’s side backed to be a “threat” this term. That is according to former England international Fara Williams, who thinks that Salah’s feud with Arne Slot over a lack of game time did him and Liverpool no favours at all last season. Moreover, the ex-Everton midfielder believes that the Reds were also not helped by the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, in addition to the tragic death of Diogo Jota last summer. Williams felt that may have “drained” Liverpool’s squad but this term, they can be “competitors” again. She told F365,”I think Liverpool will be a threat again this year. They all know that they certainly underachieved last year. There was all that kind of talk about Salah and obviously with Trent going and obviously with the [Virgil] Van Dijk talk. “They were really unsettled going into the season and then it hung over them, didn’t it? The Salah uncertainty was just hanging and lingering the whole season. I think you can’t come away from the Jota situation and how much that would have impacted the fans, players, coaches, staff. “I read something on the fans maybe coming away from the clapping that they did for Jota (when his old shirt number matches the minutes into the game), and kind of stop reminding them of that because that emotion was draining on the players. “There was a lot for them to overcome last year and I think it’s a fresh start for them this year and they’ll be real competitors again.” It goes without saying that Salah, 34, was a Liverpool legend and will go down as one of their greatest players. But every player has a shelf life and this summer seems to have been the right time for the two parties to go their separate ways. READ MORE: Liverpool: ‘Powerful’ Reds attacker set for exit as three sides battle to win race Incidentally, Liverpool spent more than £400million on players last season but it didn’t do them much good as they failed to retain their Premier League title. A fifth-place finish ultimately cost Slot his job, with the Reds moving to appoint Bournemouth’s Iraola as his successor. The Merseyside outfit have spent under £90m on players (Jeremy Jacquet, Victor Munoz and loanee Ronald Araujo) so far this summer and still appear to be short in a number of areas, particularly the midfield. Despite that, Williams feels the likes of Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, and Milos Kerkez will come good this season and Iraola can be a “massive” asset for them. She continued, “It’s never easy for overseas players to come in and settle. And those that do, it’s got to be a big season. So the settling-in period probably has taken longer for the likes of Wirtz. “I mean, he’s a fantastic player. We see that when he was playing in the German league for Bayer Leverkusen. And also when he plays for Germany, you see a difference in the quality that he has. “Obviously, Isak was injured pretty much most of the season for them. The full-back, Kerkez, I think for him as well. Again, we saw what he did at Bournemouth. He was a fantastic full-back. And maybe the pressures were different at Liverpool for those players. “But I think the manager is massive for them. I highly rate him. Yes, we could say that he was playing with less pressure at Bournemouth. The expectation is different at Bournemouth than at Liverpool. “But when you look at the philosophy of managers and what you do with a group of players and how you get players to buy into what you want to do, he certainly can do that, and he’ll do that at Liverpool. And I think Liverpool will be strong, again, competing.” DON’T MISS: Liverpool: One piece of Barcola puzzle completed with £47m transfer amid Romano update