In fairness this isn't true.
Alisson is 30 but keepers tend to stay at their peak for much longer than outfield players. I'd be surprised if he needed replacing for 5 or 6 years.
Trent is still young and potentially hasn't even peaked yet. Robbo is 28 and in his prime years (in theory) and we have Tsimikas who is 26.
VVD and Matip are both 31, but we'd expect to get another couple of good years out of both of them given their athleticism. And we have Gomez and Konate who are both in their early to mid-20s coming through.
Up top we've worked to line up replacements for Bobby/Mo/Mane in Jota/Diaz/Nunez, all of whom are 25 or under and so shouldn't peak for another couple of years (forwards usually do around 27/28).
The only real issue in terms of age profile is in midfield but even then, only 3 of our 8 available midfielders are over 30. This isn't some team we've hung onto until they can barely kick a football. Milner is the only player who is genuinely in the "old" category for a footballer, Hendo and Thiago are 31/32 and so we should be aiming to line up their replacements now. Fabinho is 28 (imminently 29), Ox is 29, Keita is 27. But the issue with these three has been more in relation to quality of late than their age profile. If they had all been playing to the best of their potential, then the likes of Keita and Ox could have taken more minutes while we brought in top young CMs to replace Thiago and Henderson. Then Jones and Elliot are obviously younger.
The issue is that the midfield is bloated because we've not moved players on. The likes of Camavinga and Valverde can get decent minutes at Madrid, whereas we have 8 first team midfielders so signing one or two more this summer would have created a ridiculous surplus. Whether that's because: a) there's no interest in Ox and Keita; b) FSG are tight and won't sell them at a lower value to move them on and free up the space; or c) Klopp is hugely loyal to his players and doesn't want to let them go, fuck knows. Could well be a combination of all three.
But it's not as easy as saying "all our players are old and we've not lined up replacements". We could start an XI next week with Alisson, Trent, VVD, Konate, Tsimikas, Elliot, Henderson, Fabinho, Jota, Nunez and Diaz. Average age 26, which isn't an old XI. As I've posted elsewhere in the last 12-24 hours, there weren't many clamouring for another new forward or defender this summer - we seemed to have a pretty decent balance in both areas with decent numbers and younger players coming through. Midfield is the critical issue, and I really don't think another couple of midfielders solves the problems we've had this season which have impacted the entire squad through fatigue and loss of form. It is obviously crucial however to bring in a couple of midfielders imminently because that's the area of our team which needs addressing the most for next season and beyond.
Great summary, and when you see it all laid out with the ages and numbers in each position, it does somewhat dilute this notion of an ageing team, players being 'past it', and the need for a complete rebuild. As you say, we've actually done a good job in succession planning for the defence and attack. It's also clear there was succession planning for the midfield as far back as 4 years ago - I think most would agree Jurgen's plan was for a midfield 3 from Fab, Gini, Ox and Keita, allowing Henderson/Milner to gradually reduce game time, whilst we also bought younger players such as Jones through the ranks to get minutes.
Ox/Keita's injuries and form, plus Gini wanting to leave were big flies in the ointment that Jurgen probably wasn't expecting - that's 3 of his likely preferred 4 'future' midfielders either crocked or moving on. Gini was a few years older of course, but I think he was still in the long-term plans considering he averaged 35 league games a season and was clearly one of Jurgen's favourites (who we've missed as much as anyone). Could we have moved some players on sooner? Of course. Is it easy when they're injured, out of form, and probably happy to see out their contracts here? Probably not.
I don't actually think Thiago was part of the midfield plan, even though Jurgen's obviously been a long-term admirer. I think he was an opportunistic signing because he was (a) available at a decent price and willing to join us, and (b) we had doubts around the fitness of Ox/Keita.
It must be incredibly hard to transition from one winning team to the next without disruption or loss of rhythm - ensuring that the replacement player is at the right level to start taking over at the right time, with as seamless a handover as possible - assuming of course the incoming and outgoing players both stay fit over the transition period. It's a fine balancing act - if the experienced player gets injured before the understudy is ready, the younger player gets thrown into a position and into games for which they might not be prepared. If the understudy gets injured, then the older player gets less rest and increases their injury risk. It's basically rebuilding a plane whilst it's still in the air, and a high wire act for any club - especially one with such a high intensity and demanding system as ours. I have no doubt our relatively high injury rate over the last few years has had a huge impact on this transition planning, managing minutes, and Jurgen being able chose the players he wants when he needs them. After our exertions of the last 4 years (especially last season), there's also been a clear domino effect of injuries, as these require more minutes for players that should be resting, who then get injuries themselves, and so on.
Ultimately, it's not worked out as well as planned, but I think rumours of our demise are greatly exaggerated. Although it's been a disappointing start (and the table never lies), the core of this team has a few more years left in the tank yet - even if some of the other players are clearly showing signs of decline (or in the case of Ox/Keita, not playing enough and likely to be gone next summer).
