Needless to say, there was a lot that needed fixing when Fenway Sports Group took over Liverpool late last year, but, according to John Henry, one concern stood out beyond the others.
"The worst surprise was the lack of depth in the squad," Henry told FourFourTwo, according to ESPN. "Our biggest concern in taking on this responsibility was this issue and it was a bigger issue than we feared.
"There was a huge multi-year payroll for a squad that had very little quality depth."
The squad inherited by Henry featured virtually no natural options at forward behind Fernando Torres, and no true wingers or healthy, high-caliber left backs either.
Henry and director of football Damien Comolli began to remedy that issue in January, adding two elite attacking options in Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez. Still, there is much left to do.
Comolli, however, is optimistic about his ability to bring the world's best to Anfield.
"There will be movement, that's for sure," Comolli said. "We are very attractive for a lot of players because of what we did in January and a game like the 3-1 defeat of Manchester United is fantastic publicity for us around the world.
"Since the day after I was getting phone calls from agents telling me that their player would love to come and that we are going to compete next year if we get it right. We are attractive to a lot of top players and we want to bring top players to this club."
Despite Liverpool's current season being defined by a chase for a return to European competition, Henry believes that the club's true top priority should be a league title.
"Our No. 1 priority is to win the Premier League title," he said. "That’s what we take with us each day to work as the force that drives us to excel.
"If we can accomplish that, we will have put ourselves in a position to be successful on all fronts, including Europe.
"Success is winning championships. It’s nothing less than that and when you win a championship – and we will – success isn’t measured or accomplished by winning once."
