'Soft' Liverpool urged to sign midfield battler Cheick Tiote

FORMER Liverpool star Neil Ruddock has urged his old club to sign Newcastle's Cheick Tiote, in order to give them some backbone.

The notorious hard-man, who made more than 150 appearances for the Anfield side in the 1990s, reckons the club's current stars are too soft.

And 'Razor' Ruddock has highlighted Tiote as the ideal January signing to put some nastiness back into Brendan Rodgers' team.

The 26-year-old midfielder has been a revelation since signing for Newcastle two years ago, receiving plenty of admiring glances from rival clubs.

But Ruddock believes Liverpool are most in need of the Ivorian enforcer.

"They need to sign him [Tiote] to break down play and give the freedom to [Steven] Gerrard and [Luis] Suarez," Ruddock told DailyStar.co.uk.

"Liverpool are too nice, they don't have enough men. These days Anfield's a nice place to go and play - you're not going to get run around or get kicked off the park.

"You used to have Graeme Souness or Ronnie Whelan, people like that. They need someone like a 24-year-old Souness, Roy Keane or Paul Ince.

"They have to have a plan B where they can all roll up their sleeves and get stuck in."

But Ruddock doesn't rate Liverpool's chances of being able to tempt Tiote away from the North-East, as he believes the Merseysiders no longer hold the same appeal as they once did.

"In the past, if good players came up for sale, Liverpool were one of the first teams players would look to come and sign for.

"Now they're looking elsewhere and instead Liverpool are getting players that aren't good enough - that's a big problem."

Even though Liverpool's weakness in the transfer market would be eased if they were to once again qualify for the Champions League, Ruddock reckons the achievement shouldn't be celebrated too loudly.

"Coming fourth [and Champions League qualification] is the new championship. It's as if there are four champions in the Premier League, which has spoilt it.

"As long as owners are in the Champions League they're happy. It's taken away the ambition."

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Source: DailyStar