Liverpool feel fragile, and patience is wearing thin

Liverpool can look both better and worse depending on what you focus on, and that’s the problem. Right now the football feels flat, the mentality looks fragile, and the second half of the season has to lift.

There’s a weird split around Liverpool at the moment. Some will not hear a word against Arne, as if admitting we’ve been pedestrian is some kind of betrayal. Others are so fed up they can’t spot a single improvement even when it’s right there in front of them.

Truth is, it’s not clear yet. That’s the uncomfortable bit. We’re somewhere between “this will click” and “this isn’t working”, and the week-to-week feel swings too easily. You can watch one spell and think the bones of a good side are there, then another spell and it looks like we’re one wobble away from folding.

The football feels heavy, not sharp

The word that keeps coming back is pedestrian. Not always bad, not always hopeless, just… heavy. The tempo drops, the play gets a bit safe, and suddenly everything looks like it takes an extra touch. When that happens, the press becomes less of a weapon and more of a jog, and the whole team shape can start to look stretched without anyone really meaning it to.

And once you start playing like that, confidence becomes a fragile thing. You stop trying the brave pass. You start taking the option that avoids losing it rather than the one that might win you the game. It doesn’t take a collapse for it to feel a bit tentative either. It can be subtle.

That nagging 90s and 00s feeling

I get why it reminds some of us of the 90s and 00s at times. Not because we are that version of Liverpool, but because the feeling is familiar: a side that looks slower than it should, a bit leggy, a bit unsure of itself. Back then, looking back, some of those squads simply weren’t good enough and we lived off memories and cup runs.

I’m not saying we’re back there. Not yet. The club’s been rebuilt on and off the pitch over the last decade, and the baseline is higher. That matters.

Decisions, not drama

What we can’t do is drift. If Richard and Arne are the right people to take this forward, brilliant, back them and let it build properly. But if it becomes clear they’re not, then the close season can’t be a time for hesitation and half-measures.

Right now the best description is fragile: loads of skill and promise, but a mentality that looks weak and tentative when things turn. Liverpool have been stronger than this in recent years. The second half of the season needs to look like we mean it again.

Written by Hugo Spritz: 1 January 2026