Why Watching Liverpool Feels Like a Chore

I’ve got no real issue with the club sticking with Arne Slot through the season. That bit is just how football works, isn’t it? They hired him, he was their pick, and they’re entitled to give him the time to see where it goes.

Especially when you factor in the basics: he won the title last season, we’re still in and around the Champions League places (for whatever that’s worth when you’re watching it through your fingers), and there’s the practical side of it. If the club can’t get the replacement they want mid-season, they’re not going to pull the trigger. Anyone with a bit of sense can see the logic, even if they don’t like it.

But the football itself is hard to defend

What’s winding people up is something else entirely: how can a side with this manager, and with these players, look so poor at the basics? Forget the scoreline for a second. Forget the league table. When you sit down and watch Liverpool, are you actually enjoying it?

Because that’s where I’m at. I’m struggling to keep my eyes open. It’s not even anger every week, it’s that flat feeling where you’re waiting for something to happen and it just… doesn’t. Then you flick another match on and, whatever their level, you see rhythm, confidence, ideas. You see a team trying to play.

Fitness, build-up and the sense of panic

The most worrying part is how familiar the same issues feel. We don’t look fit enough to finish games properly, physically or mentally. We fade. We get scrappy. The decision-making goes, and the whole thing turns into survival rather than control.

On the ball it’s no better. The build-up isn’t consistent, and when you can’t reliably progress through midfield you end up forcing it. That’s when the play gets predictable and you start living on moments rather than patterns.

And then there’s the chaos in our own box. A high ball drops in and players look shell-shocked, like they’re waiting for someone else to deal with it. That isn’t just one lad having a bad day, that’s a collective mindset problem.

Substitutions that feel like self-sabotage

It’s hard not to point at the in-game management as well. When you’ve got a player “killing it” in a match, the last thing you want is a change that takes them away from what’s working. Putting Wirtz out on the left as a winger tracking back, after he’s doing damage elsewhere, is the sort of decision that leaves fans groaning before the opposition even take advantage.

That’s the thing: plenty of supporters aren’t demanding a sacking every five minutes. They’re asking for Liverpool to look like Liverpool again. A bit of tempo. A bit of bravery. Something to make the match feel worth your time.

Written by OliRed: 5 January 2026