Liverpool being fourth in the form guide doesn’t exactly make for a parade route, but it does matter when the mood round the place starts swinging wildly from week to week. The point is not that everything’s fine. It’s that the picture is a lot more complicated than “we’re miles off it”.
Even matches people write off as routine are turning into proper slogs. Leeds, for example, can get waved away as relegation fodder, but they’ve been awkward to play against and even harder to keep quiet. When you’re relying on centre-halves getting on the end of headers to swing games, you’re living on fine margins. If one of those goes in, you’re talking about a clean sheet and a different conversation entirely.
The league’s gone safety-first, and we’re not immune
I’d encourage anyone fuming at the “state of the league” to sit through 90 minutes of a few other sides. The pattern is pretty clear: low blocks, set pieces, long throws, and a lot of teams playing not to lose first and foremost. It’s not just Liverpool fans feeling it either. You hear similar complaints everywhere because plenty of matches have become chess, not chaos.
That’s why set pieces matter more than ever, at both ends. Liverpool have clearly been tweaking things there, and at least defensively it looked steadier in the last one. It’s not glamorous, but it’s part of staying in the fight when open-play chances are getting rationed.
The summer, the injuries, and the knock-on effect
Truth is, it’s been one of the toughest summers the club’s had in a long time. Fresh faces can distract you from the underlying disruption, but it was never going to be a clean run at anything with that backdrop. Pair that with a season where the right-back slot hasn’t settled because of injuries, and the wider balance of the side starts wobbling.
Then you’ve got the rest of it stacking up: a new left-back needing months to adjust, the older left-back needing managing, only two fit centre-backs, and the best keeper in the world missing a chunk. On top of that, form has dipped in key areas: Mac Allister not quite himself, Mo not at last season’s level, Gakpo looking predictable, and a forward line that’s thinner than it was. When your “biggest signing” has barely been on the pitch, it’s no shock the whole thing feels stop-start.
There are still green shoots, so back them
And yet, even with all that, there have been good flashes. Young Ngumoha has given people something to latch onto. Ekitike has looked electric. Szoboszlai has started to look like he’s owning games, and Wirtz has been finding his touch. That doesn’t erase the problems, but it does tell you the squad and the coaching staff aren’t devoid of quality.
We’ve all lived through the Hodgson horror show and the end of Brendan, so we know what genuinely bleak looks like. This isn’t that. For me it’s simple: give the players and Arne Slot proper support to the end of the season, then take stock when we actually know where we’ve finished. Form is temporary, class is permanent, and there’s more class in this group than it’s being credited for right now.
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