This Is Where Man-Management Really Matters

It’s not really about whether a few fringe lads are “good enough” for Liverpool. That debate never ends anyway. The bigger point is coaching and man-management: can you get a squad to give you their best, even when they’re not first choice and even when the manager probably doesn’t totally fancy them?

We’ve lived the other side of that. Under Klopp, nobody genuinely believed he rated every single player equally, because that’s not how football works. But he was brilliant at making people feel involved. He’d lean on a squad player, give them a run, or even just speak about them like they mattered. And when the moment came, they were ready to run through a wall.

Klopp didn’t need to love everyone to lift everyone

That’s the key bit. You don’t have to pretend every lad is world class. You just have to make them feel counted on. That sense of “you’ll be needed” changes the way a player trains, the way they carry themselves, the way they handle the rough weeks when they’re not in the XI.

Big European nights are always held up as proof, because they’re the hardest to fake. If the squad isn’t together, those comebacks don’t happen. You can see why people point to Barcelona as the ultimate example of a group believing in itself and each other. That doesn’t come from tactics alone.

The issue with late cameos and obvious favourites

Where the frustration comes in now is the feeling that Arne Slot is making it too obvious who he trusts and who he doesn’t. Certain players are parked on the bench week after week, then suddenly thrown on for five minutes when we need something. That’s not “keeping everyone sharp”. That feels like using people as a panic button.

And players aren’t daft. They feel the shade. If the message all season is “I don’t really rate you”, and then the message in the final minutes is “save me”, it’s hard to see how that builds any kind of edge, confidence, or togetherness.

Scapegoating is a dangerous habit

The other part is public blame. If a manager starts leaning on individual players to cover his own mistakes, the dressing room notices. Even the ones not being named will clock it and think, “am I next?”

And if a big character like Salah feels scapegoated and responds, that tells you the temperature. Not everyone can answer back. Others, like Chiesa or Rio as mentioned, might just have to swallow it. Truth is, that’s how resentment builds, and it’s the opposite of what you need when you’re trying to squeeze results out of a full squad across a long season.

Written by OliRed: 23 January 2026