Liverpool at the minute feel like a side stuck between two ideas. First we looked like we were trying to blow teams away by committing bodies forward, then the moment it got messy we’ve pulled the handbrake on. Neither version is really working, and you can feel the frustration building because the squad is obviously better than what it’s showing.

A lot of the chat ends up circling back to what we’ve lost, but it’s worth being honest about context. Not everyone who’s moved on was a nailed-on first choice, and if a player isn’t impacting games regularly, you’re not automatically weaker just because they’re no longer here. The bigger issue is what we’re doing with the players we’ve got.

Structure went missing in midfield

For me, the big turning point has been the way the midfield has been asked to play, particularly around Gravenberch. When you loosen the reins and push numbers on, it can look great for 15 minutes. You trap teams in, you recycle attacks, the crowd senses a battering. But there’s a cost. Lose the ball once and suddenly your rest-defence is thin, distances are huge, and everybody is sprinting back towards their own goal.

Then, when that approach backfires, it’s easy to overcorrect. You can see the temptation to protect the back line, keep more men behind the ball, slow the game down. The problem is that you end up with sterile possession: plenty of it, but not enough running beyond, not enough pace committed into the final third, not enough chaos for the opposition to deal with.

Possession without the punch

That’s where the eye test is hard to ignore. We’ll have the ball for long spells, yet the final ball so often feels like it’s aimed at nobody in particular. A cross that sails, a through ball that’s half a yard off, or a pass played safe when the moment needs a bit of nerve.

At the other end, opponents can sometimes move it around our box with far too much comfort. Not because we don’t care, but because we’re not getting close enough, not making it horrible, not forcing the rushed touch or the panicked pass. Aggression doesn’t always mean flying into tackles. It can be distances, angles, and arriving on time.

Minute-managing and the fitness question

The fitness side is the worry. You can excuse sluggishness early on and blame pre-season disruption, but as weeks pass you expect sharpness to rise. If it doesn’t, questions get asked. And it does feel like Arne Slot is leaning heavily into caution, guided by the medical side, always managing minutes, always taking lads off at 70, always leaving someone out “just in case”.

Truth is, sometimes you have to play players into rhythm. If nobody ever finishes 90, nobody ever gets used to finishing 90. That doesn’t mean being reckless, but it does mean picking your moments to be brave.

The maddening part is the upside is right there. The team is unbeaten in nine and sitting fourth, which says the foundations aren’t broken. If the fitness lifts, the balance returns, and we start playing with a bit more composure and quality in the final third, it can still turn into something decent.

Written by Sean Dundee: 16 January 2026

Tags: efl injury tactics