The Summer Looked Right, The Slide Didn’t

It’s funny how quickly a “good summer” can turn into a post-mortem. At the time, you could make a pretty convincing case that Liverpool had done the sensible thing: extend the big hitters, freshen up the squad, and give the manager more ways to win games.

Keeping Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah felt like a no-brainer. Continuity matters. Standards matter. If they’re still operating at the top of their game, you don’t overthink it. You take the stability and build around it.

On paper, the squad plan covered the obvious gaps

The suggested moves had a clear logic. Isak in for Nunez is a straight “change the profile” call. Kerkez for Tsimikas reads like proper long-term planning, especially with Robertson not getting any younger. Frimpong for Trent isn’t like-for-like, but the idea of leaning into two expressive full-backs is easy to understand, particularly if you want to keep the tempo high and stretch teams wide.

Then there’s the more structural stuff. Leoni for Quansah is a ruthlessly modern squad decision if you think you need a different type. And Wirtz as the wildcard is the kind of signing you talk yourself into very quickly: not necessarily replacing Diaz directly, but giving you that “door-opener” when you’re staring at a low block and everything feels sticky.

Add in the line about not blocking Rios’ pathway and you can even see why a winger might not have been top of the list. If you believe in a young player, you’ve got to leave them daylight.

The bits that still nag: bite, balance, and what got missed

The two doubts are fair as well. Missing out on Guehi stings if you wanted another top-level option at the back. And the “lack of bite” in midfield isn’t a new conversation at Anfield, is it? Still, Liverpool have won big before without a classic destroyer sitting there, so it’s not as simple as “sign a DM and everything’s fixed”. It’s about balance and roles, not just job titles.

Hindsight is brutal: form, fitness, and Arne Slot’s share of it

The real killer is that the assumptions didn’t hold. If Van Dijk and Salah drop off, even slightly, the whole machine looks less certain. Then layer in tactical stubbornness, fitness levels, and injuries, and you’re suddenly not talking about “pushing on”, you’re talking about damage limitation.

And that’s where I land with the responsibility. You can debate recruitment and you can debate the names involved, but the buck stops with Arne Slot. He’s got enough tools here to steady it. The worry is whether he can turn those tools into a side that’s hard to play against again.

Right now, expectations feel like: top four first, maybe an FA Cup if it’s taken seriously, and a decent Champions League run. Not because that’s what Liverpool “should be”, but because that’s what the current reality is asking for.

Written by Ernest Millar: 12 January 2026