If It’s Not Transfers, What Is It?

When a side looks flat, the debate usually goes to the usual places first: transfers, effort, injuries, "mentality". But if you genuinely think Liverpool did solid business last summer apart from not adding another centre-back, and you’re not seeing a dressing-room sulk, then you end up staring at the bit in the middle: the coaching.

That’s the nagging frustration here. The squad, broadly speaking, isn’t a million miles away from what it was, and we’ve all watched plenty of these lads play proper football. So why does it feel like we’re watching a team that can’t quite decide what it wants to be from open play?

The squad hasn’t suddenly forgotten how to play

Players don’t just wake up one day and forget the basics. We’ve seen this group press, counter, dominate territory, keep the ball when needed and look ruthless when the game opens up. Even allowing for the natural dip that comes with change, you’d still expect some recognisable patterns to show up quickly.

And that’s where the worry creeps in. If the recruitment box was mostly ticked, and you’re not pointing at obvious attitude problems, then it starts to feel less like a personnel issue and more like a "what are we actually trying to do?" issue.

Arne Slot and the weight of the job

The Liverpool job is a different animal. It isn’t just tactics on a whiteboard, it’s managing the week-to-week pressure, the Anfield expectations, the Premier League relentlessness, and the fact you’re following a manager who set a clear identity for nearly a decade. That transition is brutal.

So when results wobble or performances feel blunt, people will ask whether Arne Slot is out of his depth. Not because he’s got no ideas, but because Liverpool is ruthless at sniffing out uncertainty. If you’re half in one style and half in another, you get punished.

Open play is where it’s most alarming

You can live with the odd scruffy game. You can even accept that a new staff might need time. What’s harder to accept is when open-play attacking looks disjointed: possession without threat, runs that don’t get spotted, pressing that’s a second late, or build-up that feels like it’s happening in slow motion.

And if that’s what you’re seeing, it’s fair to question the coaching detail. Is the spacing right? Are the automatisms there? Are we creating the same chances, just missing them, or are we not creating enough in the first place? Those are coaching questions, not character ones.

Truth is, if it isn’t transfers and it isn’t attitude, then the answer probably sits on the training pitch. Liverpool don’t need pretty football for the sake of it. We need football that makes sense.

Written by mfahmee2: 9 January 2026