Why Liverpool Look Short of Pace and Purpose

I’m struggling with the same feeling a lot of us have right now: we don’t just look a bit off, we look like a side missing basic ingredients. And when you see other teams fielding players with real speed and aggression out wide, it only sharpens the question. Why haven’t we gone harder for that sort of winger who can just pick the ball up and run at people?

That’s why the Semenyo shout makes sense as a type, even if the exact name is up for debate. Liverpool’s wide play has often been about movement and combinations, which is fine when the structure is working. But when it isn’t, you need a different outlet: someone who can beat a full-back, force the defence to retreat, win you territory and give the crowd something to latch onto. At the moment it can all feel a bit samey, a bit predictable.

Wide threat has to be more than cutting inside

The frustration with Gakpo here isn’t that he’s a bad player. It’s the pattern. When an opposition knows the winger is always going to come inside, they can show him there and set the trap. You end up in traffic, the tempo drops, and suddenly Liverpool are passing in front of a settled block again.

Watching quick, direct wide players elsewhere makes it obvious what we’re missing on certain days: that pure, nasty pace. The sort of winger who goes outside as well as inside, and doesn’t need five passes to get into the final third. Even a full-back watching that has to think twice before stepping in.

Shape, pressing, and the feeling of no plan

The bigger worry is what you said at the end: cohesion, pressing, tactics, leadership. Because you can sign a fast winger and still look disjointed if the team isn’t connected off the ball. When Liverpool are at their best, the press isn’t just running. It’s triggers, distances, and confidence that the lad next to you is doing his bit.

Right now it too often feels like individual efforts rather than a coordinated unit. And that’s where the questions naturally turn to Arne Slot and the people behind the scenes. Is it stubbornness? Is it recruitment? Is it just a squad that needs refreshing in key areas? We can’t know the full internal picture, but you can see the symptoms on the pitch.

What the squad balance is crying out for

Even keeping it simple, the priorities don’t feel complicated: centre-back reinforcement, solid full-backs, and real wide pace. In midfield, you can at least picture a rotation with Gravenberch, Jones, Szoboszlai and Mac. That area might not be perfect, but it doesn’t scream “broken” the way the wider and defensive parts can when we’re struggling.

The depressing bit as a fan is how obvious it looks from the stands and the sofa. The hopeful bit is that it’s also fixable, if the club actually agrees on what it wants the team to be.

Written by Cam1: 7 January 2026