If they fail to qualify for the CL right at a time when they need to replace half the first team, it’ll be a disaster for them. Their recruitment seems to have waned with the loss of key personnel behind the scenes, right at a time when they need a rebuild. They have one of the oldest average starting XIs in the PL. Alisson, VVD, Matip, Milner, Henderson, Thiago, Salah and Firmino are all over 30. And those players who are just behind them in age, the next group down, have either failed to make the grade, lost form, or become injury prone - Fabinho, Robertson, Keita, Oxlade Chamberlain.
The squad needs a massive injection of quality over the next 2 years, and if they keep spending big bucks on players like Nunez, the rest of the league has nothing to worry about.