It’s not an excuse for Liverpool looking short of fitness, but it does feel like there’s a straightforward explanation staring us in the face. When a pre-season lacks proper edge and proper game practice, you don’t get sharpness later by magic. You get an undercooked side that’s still trying to find its lungs and its rhythm.
Preparation matters, even when it’s unpopular
The comparison that springs to mind is England going to Australia and looking nowhere near ready. Everyone says it every time: you need proper preparation, you need match practice, and you need a group that’s been pushed hard enough to cope when the heat gets turned up.
When coaches go soft in the build-up, whether that’s through caution, circumstance, or just trying not to lose players, you end up arriving “not quite there”. You can have talent and potential all you like, but if you’re under-tested you’re basically finding out in public. That’s never a nice way to do it.
Slot and a pre-season that couldn’t be normal
The truth is, there are summers where football isn’t the main thing, and it changes what a manager can realistically demand. If the camp isn’t in the right place mentally, you’re not going to see Arne Slot pushing everyone to the brink as if it’s a standard July. That sort of intensity has to be earned, and it has to be appropriate.
But the knock-on effect is obvious. If you don’t go through the hard days together, you can end up with a squad that’s slightly open to its own excuses. Not in a malicious way, just in that human way where you’re looking for a reason why you’re not sharp yet. And once that mindset creeps in, it’s a battle as much as a conditioning issue.
Standards around the new lads
It’s also not ideal when the mood leaders aren’t helping. If Mo is sulking, even a bit, it’s hard to pretend it doesn’t affect the atmosphere. New players don’t just need tactical instructions, they need a clean environment to settle into. They need the senior lads setting the tone, showing what “Liverpool standards” actually look like day to day.
Still, there are positives in there. The new faces have shown their worth, or at least their potential, which is what you’re really looking for early on. And when you see the sort of goals Isak can bring, you understand the appeal straight away: that sense of threat, that ability to turn moments into goals. If he’s not fully up to speed until August, so be it. Better that than rushing and chasing it all season.
So yes, it’s frustrating. But it’s also fixable. Fitness comes, sharpness comes, and if the group stops leaning on explanations and starts leaning into standards, the rest tends to follow.
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