Liverpool may be running away with the Premier League title, but Paul Ince says they can only be considered a “great side” if they “keep winning trophies after trophies”.
Many have already placed the Anfield class of 2019-20 into that bracket as, having tasted Champions League glory last season, Jurgen Klopp has guided the Reds to UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup triumphs in the current campaign.
With a 16-point lead held at the top of the Premier League table, and boasting a game in hand, the securing of a first domestic crown in 30 years appears to be a case of when not if.
That dominance, at home and abroad, is considered to have Liverpool standing alongside the great and good of modern football.
Ince is not buying that just yet, with the former midfielder of the opinion that an era of sustained success is required in order to be considered truly elite.
The ex-Manchester United and Liverpool star told BT Sport: “For me, when I go back to the Man Utd team, we had a great, great team with great, great players.
"The generations have changed and football has changed, and when I look at my midfield of [Roy] Keane, [Bryan] Robson, [Ryan] Giggs and [Andrei] Kanchelskis, would they get in this team today? Yes, of course they would, it goes without saying.
"It's always hard to compare with the teams you've played in.
Getty Images"Liverpool can only have a great side if they keep winning trophies after trophies, that's how you judge a great side.
"You can't be a great side just based on winning the title this year, Klopp knows that. Being a great side means winning over years and years and years.
"Chelsea had a spell of it, Liverpool did it in the 80s.
"To call them a great side? No. I think what they do is great, and it would be a great achievement to win it.
"But to be a great side they need to win it year after year after year for me."
Former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch agreed with that assessment, adding on Klopp’s record-breaking side: "They have to dominate, don't they? They've won the Champions League, it's the first title in 30 years this one.
"If they go on and dominate for a few years we can then talk about them being a great side, and they're well on their way."
Liverpool are yet to lift the FA Cup under Klopp and will get the chance to move a step closer to that piece of silverware on Sunday when they take in a fourth-round date with Shrewsbury.