Defeats can happen and results can return to being positive, but Liverpool absolutely need to overcome their current form…
WELL, THIS ISN’T GOOD.
Throughout this season there’s been a narrative about late goals saving the 20 times champions and how great it is that we never give up. Liverpool were celebrated for their attitude as long ago as a fortnight ago. Then we concede a late one at the weekend after an admittedly drab performance and suddenly we’re just an awful side.
And Palace was bad. Really bad. The play, too ponderous, the attack so blunted, but you have to give credit to the opposition who have not only worked out how to play us but appear to enjoy doing so. No complaints there. We got what we deserved there. The Reds were shocking.
Istanbul though …
Look, bear with me here. Let’s play Devil’s Advocate for a minute.
Liverpool lost to a penalty when a fingernail brushed a cheek in the area (The Lazar Markovic precedent) and then spent the next 80 minutes trying to string five passes together before the ref stopped the game for yet another absolutely authentic injury.
There was no rhythm to the play in the second-half simply because there was no play. The Turkish side disrupted the flow of the game and the referee went with it.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that as a tactic. Well, there is but it’s alright when we do it so fair enough.
In any case, it’s just one Champions League and we’ve plenty of time to put it right. Just one of them.
There. That’s the only defence I can muster. A dodgy penalty and spoiling tactics. The thing is, Liverpool should be able to overcome that and Liverpool didn’t come close. Even our disallowed penalty wasn’t even close to hope.
Unlucky maybe, but none of that explains Ibrahima Konate’s woeful performance, the baffling insistence on Frimpong over Salah with our most energetic midfielder stuck at right-back and a midfield so slow it was practically glacial. That was all on the Reds and Arne Slot.
You can throw in additional arguments. Milo Kerkez may be the future but Andy Robertson was made for the combative game Galatasaray played and would have relished that arena but no, he stayed on the bench.
Then there’s Florian Wirtz. He may be beautiful to watch but I’d rather have a goal deflected off his arse than watch an aesthetically pleasing dink over the top to nobody in particular.
Life has become interesting. Let’s just say that.
All in all, we’ve created more problems than we’ve answered this week. For the first time in his Anfield career, Arne Slot has numerous headaches to address, particularly now that his goalkeeper and top scorer are injured.
Yep. All these headaches sat at the top of the league, but …
Media narratives change with every game. The commentators on Tuesday’s game were all but making out that not only is this a bad spell, but ultimately the end of the club! Alan! Forget what happened at St James’s? Your lads lost 3-2 in the last minute and have won only one league game since! Galatasaray aren’t all that either! Honest! Let it go!
That’s not to say that this isn’t a bad spell. The Champions aren’t playing like Champions and that’s cause for concern. Maybe it’s because the manager still doesn’t know what the best side is. Maybe there isn’t an ideal and we’re just playing jazz every game and hoping it fits.
Arne Slot has decisions to make, particularly at right-back and with Wirtz but he’s partially hamstrung with fitness issues. Mac Allister, Bradley and Isak are yet to complete the equivalent of a pre-season and you’d assume all would start the template 2025-26 Liverpool league game. We’ve effectively gone into this new season with our shoelaces undone.
Cards on the table. I’d like to see Konate taken out of the firing line. I’d like to see Bradley and Robertson as full-backs, mostly because they’re actually full-backs. I’d like to see Mo without Wirtz to see if any of the old fire remains. I’m not convinced one hampers the other but I miss the Egyptian King and want him back. Need him back, really.
More than anything I want Hugo Ekitike wrapped in cotton wool and placed in isolation somewhere in the vaults of the training ground so his magnificence can be preserved for eternity. I know Isak’s going to be great once he can run but Hugo was the only player who got my hopes up in Turkey.
Yeah, this isn’t good, but you have to overcome weeks like this to become successful. Liverpool are still a hell of a side. It’s just that we’re spinning more plates than usual this week and it seems to be ourselves that are setting them off.
This is where we earn it.
Stick with them though. Always stick with them.
No runners. Ever.
