At some point you stop trying to dress it up. Liverpool fans are going to have to manage expectations because it genuinely feels like this could be a long, painful season. Another one goes in the ‘swallow it and move on’ column, and it’s hard to shake the sense that we’ve gone from being the shiny option to being just another club in the queue far quicker than anyone wanted.
That doesn’t mean the sky is falling, but it does mean the margins have changed. When you’re winning big games and competing at the top end, you can sell players a clear pathway, a clear idea, a clear platform. When you’re not, the conversation gets shorter, and suddenly the likes of Manchester City look like an even stronger pull than they already are. To be fair, that isn’t new. City have been the stronger “project” for young players for a while, especially for those who want the neatest route to trophies and the biggest stage.
Missing more than we hit
The concern for me is the pattern. Not “we missed one player”, because every club misses players. It’s the fear that we’re going to keep missing more than we hit, and that the errors stack up across windows. When that happens, the team doesn’t just fail to improve, it starts carrying the same problems week to week, and you end up watching the same match in different kits.
And that’s where the talk about leadership comes in. If you could add proven leadership at the back, someone like Marc Guehi, you can see the appeal straight away. Not because one defender magically fixes everything, but because having a proper organiser changes the mood of a side. It gives you a chance to settle, to control the chaos, to stop every spell against you feeling like it might end in panic.
The midfield chat feels weirdly quiet
But here’s the thing: the position that still screams out is midfield. It’s odd how easily it gets pushed under the radar when the conversation turns to a centre-back and whatever winger is being mentioned this week. If the midfield isn’t right, nothing else really works. The press becomes half a press. The distances open up. The back line starts defending transitions instead of defending space. And the forwards end up living off scraps.
You can talk about “system” all you want, but systems need legs, control and personality in the middle. When we’re poor, that’s where it shows first. It isn’t always about effort either. Sometimes it’s just the lack of a top-level midfielder who can steady a game, make better decisions under pressure, and stop us playing like we’re constantly rushing.
Who is actually steering this?
The final worry is the decision-making. If Arne Slot has loads of say and is heavily influencing recruitment, then the next few calls matter even more. Not because managers shouldn’t have input, but because Liverpool have to be sharp about how they build a squad over multiple windows. If we get that balance wrong, we’re in for more dross, and there’s no hiding from it.
Truth is, we can all hope we’re wrong. I’d love to look silly by spring because the right additions landed and the midfield clicked. But right now, it feels like we’re asking the same parts of the team to carry the same weight, and it’s showing.
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