There’s a very Liverpool-shaped argument brewing here: did we misjudge the direction the league was heading, plan for one type of season, and then watch it turn on us? It’s a tidy explanation, and it probably contains a bit of truth. But it doesn’t erase the more uncomfortable point, which is that certain weaknesses were already waving at us during that grim run, and we still didn’t treat them as urgent summer business.

That’s the bit that frustrates people. Not because every window has to be a shopping spree, but because you could see the same sore spots getting poked week after week. If you don’t act, you’re basically betting that form and confidence will carry you through. Sometimes it does. Sometimes the league laughs and moves the goalposts.

Some issues were visible, even before they became loud

The complaints haven’t come out of nowhere. When we’re not quite at it, you see it in the details: a half-second of hesitancy when we win the ball and could break, a press that feels a touch less hungry, and a safer choice when the risky pass is actually the one that hurts teams. It all adds up to a side that can look cautious when it should be pushing the issue.

And to be clear, saying that doesn’t mean the sky is falling. It’s just recognising that if the same problems keep showing up, you either coach them out, recruit to cover them, or accept you’ll keep getting the same outcomes against the better-organised sides.

You can’t demand a complete personality change

Here’s where I’m sympathetic to the manager. This is the fella the board have backed, and whether you loved it or merely accepted it at the time, he’s delivered. Once that’s true, it’s hard to keep shouting for him to become a completely different version of himself just because a rough patch turns up.

Managers have principles. They also have habits. When results wobble, supporters tend to ask for the opposite of whatever’s currently happening: more risk, more aggression, more chaos in the final third. Sometimes that’s right. Other times it’s just stress talking.

Fixing the squad is still the quickest way to ‘fix’ the style

The more sensible route is to accept the parameters he’s working under. That includes injuries and suspensions, but also the broader idea of what he wants Liverpool to look like. If the plan is to evolve how we create chances, and not lean so heavily on Salah and the wings every single week, then that transition is going to have growing pains.

So yes, mistakes were made in not addressing certain weaknesses quickly enough. But it’s not fatal. There’s time to correct it, and time to judge whether we’re actually moving in the right direction, rather than just venting because it feels better in the moment.

Written by PatrikBurgher: 1 January 2026

Tags: efl tactics