Whatever you make of Ferguson, you can still hold two thoughts at once: you can dislike what he represented and still recognise a proper trailblazer when you see one. A generational manager, built on the graft he did in Scotland and then the machine he created at Manchester United. That level of identity and authority is the bit that stings when you look at us right now.
Because watching Liverpool has started to feel like pulling teeth. Not because we’re losing every week, not because the table says something ugly, but because the football itself has lost that thing that made you sit forward. After eight years of Klopp’s Liverpool, where the game could turn on a press, a burst, a crowd-swell and a bit of madness, this new version feels like it’s been drained of oxygen.
This squad is not short on quality
That’s what makes it harder to swallow. I’m not having the idea that this is simply the limit of the players. We’ve all seen them play with personality. We’ve seen big performances, big nights, and moments where the group looks like it belongs at the top end of the Premier League. When you can point to games where the level has clearly been there, it becomes difficult to accept the week-to-week timidness as some unavoidable reality.
It doesn’t take a tactical doctorate either. You can feel it. Passes played safe when there’s space to step in. A forward line waiting for the ball rather than hunting it. The whole side looking like it’s trying not to make the mistake, instead of trying to win the moment.
Fear is a tactical problem as much as a mental one
People dress it up as “control” or “patience”, but there’s a difference between measured and meek. Control still has intent. It still pins teams in, it still asks questions, it still creates that sense that a goal is coming if you keep the pressure on.
What we’re seeing too often is a team playing within itself. Scared of its own shadow is harsh, but it’s also how it looks: risk stripped out, tempo lowered, and the crowd left waiting for something that never arrives.
Results can’t be the only argument
Truth is, results matter, of course they do. But there’s a reason some performances leave you fuming even when you get away with it, and others leave you oddly calm even if you’ve dropped points. It’s about recognition. About seeing Liverpool play like Liverpool.
And right now, it feels like we’re being asked to accept a ceiling that simply doesn’t match the talent in the squad. I won’t. Not when we’ve already seen that this group can play with conviction. It didn’t have to be this way, and that’s the part that makes it so draining.
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