I’ve had my season ticket for over 35 years, so I’m not new to this. I’ve watched us at our absolute best, and I’ve sat through the sort of stuff you’d rather forget by Monday. That’s probably why this current spell hits a nerve. You can feel the emotion building before kick-off, hairs up on the back of your neck when You’ll Never Walk Alone goes round, and then you’re asking yourself the same thing: why can’t the performance match the moment?
Because at the minute, it looks like Liverpool are being set up not to lose, and maybe nick one. That can be a sensible phase, I get it. But it’s not pretty, and it’s not much fun when it turns into a habit.
It feels like we’re playing within ourselves
The main frustration isn’t just that results can be tight, it’s the feeling we’re doing everything safely. The tempo looks cautious. The risk is limited. There’s less of that snap and aggression we associate with Liverpool when we’re right, the thing that pins teams in and makes Anfield feel like it’s tilting.
Sometimes you can tell a manager wants the team to be harder to beat first, then add the flair later. Fair enough. But the worry is that “later” keeps getting pushed back, and we forget what it looks like to play with the handbrake off.
Substitutions: managing the week, not the match
The subs, for me, told the story. They didn’t feel like changes designed to win the game, more like changes designed to not lose it, and maybe to keep a few legs fresh for Sunday. That’s where fans start to grumble, because it feels like the match in front of you becomes a problem to manage rather than a chance to go and take.
In my head, I wanted Wirtz staying on and operating through the middle. I wanted Kerkez on for Robbo. And I wanted Mac Allister on for Jones. Not because I’m pretending it’s Football Manager, but because those sorts of calls say: we’re going after this.
Patience matters, but the bigger picture nags
The last thing I want is another cycle of sacking a manager, bringing someone else in, then watching us drift while the whole club resets again. We’ve spent too many years doing that. If Slot is steadying the ship, building something solid so we stop giving away soft goals and regain control, then fine. Build the base. But it has to lead somewhere.
And this is where the doubt creeps in. If the bigger issue is above the manager, if it’s a Hughes/Edwards situation, then who sorts it, and when? Football moves quickly. If you leave problems to fester, the season doesn’t wait for you to get organised.
Everyone’s got an opinion, and we won’t all agree. That’s football. The one thing we do share is the love of Liverpool, and that’s why the standards are so high. The question is simple: is changing the manager really the fix, and if so, who’s genuinely out there that you’d trust to be the right one?
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Liverpool News Views offers daily Liverpool coverage including match reaction, transfer analysis, EFL context, tactical breakdowns and opinion-led articles written by supporters for supporters.
