The plan for this season has long gone out of the window, but Liverpool need to ensure a Champions League finish, starting at Everton…
‘WE have to accept it and we will come back stronger next season’.
THESE were Arne Slot’s words when Liverpool were beaten by penalties against Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield last March.
I don’t want to provide spoilers, but they didn’t.
That failure to come back stronger has predominantly been laid at the door of Slot, whose character has been assassinated to such grave lengths over the past six months that some people, previously of sound character, actually believe he won a title on the coat tails of another man’s work.
It’s a nonsense argument. In general, Slot has deserved more respect. But he has also been culpable of not instilling enough external belief and therefore, not being Jürgen Klopp, in the eyes of many.
The team has also been the focus of supporter ire. Manchester City felt like a new low in a season of depressing pitfalls. Attitude and desire questions paired with the ignorance shown by a couple of players on the day led to a week of rebellion in line with the club’s recent ticketing grift.
By the end of Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat to PSG, there was a feeling of uncertainty around everything. How could this season have unravelled in such a way? Why couldn’t they show parts of this intensity in other games? What is the instruction from the sidelines?
The reality remains that failure lies with Slot and his players but also those above them.
Before Diogo Jota’s tragic passing, Liverpool weren’t shy in telling people how they aimed to go one better than a title-winning season. Not one person from Slot to Richard Hughes ever came out and said this was going to be a season of transition and we should all strap in for a bumpy ride.
Instead, we were told that Federico Chiesa and Rio Ngumoha were viable first team options, which they weren’t. Only recently has Ngumoha forced himself into that picture. But Liverpool must still be uber-cautious with the youngster and refrain from exposing him and risking his long-term trajectory. I haven’t got a problem keeping the head coach in place if the club decides to. I’m also on board if they decide to make a change. But the reality is simple: Liverpool cannot have another season like this one.
For now, we have to avoid the obvious banana peel laid out in the remaining six league fixtures.
Sunday will be our first ever visit to the Hill Dickinson Stadium. I’ll weirdly miss Goodison Park now that it’s no longer Everton’s home. I’ll definitely miss its hostility, honesty and ability to reflect the district of Walton as it did.
In Everton, Manchester United and Aston Villa away, the reality remains the same for The Reds: show a smidge of weakness and the opposition will pounce. It’s common knowledge there is blood to be sniffed against Liverpool. Some will associate PSG with City but it wasn’t the same. Regardless, they can point at any number of examples from the season where Liverpool have felt and looked brittle.
Liverpool needs Champions League football, we know this. But more importantly is the opportunity to get more than they actually deserve from the campaign by qualifying. It’s in their hands, and this is what will worry a lot of people. This team has transpired to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory more than once this term.
Slot needs to find a consistency of players, results and mentality from now until game 38 to potentially ensure his own future, but to lay the seed of hope that can emanate through a summer of perceived cleansing with more departures and arrivals planned.
They need to show the type of resolve they’ve abandoned, starting this weekend. They need to avoid excuses on and off the pitch in a manner that resembles competence and leadership to get Liverpool back on a footing to compete at the top of the football food chain.
All of this isn’t now resting on one game, but beating Everton always helps. Now it has the sprinkling of reality that beating this rival makes history in that massive law-firm-bowl they now play in.
Lose and the world caves in again. Lose and any fragment of goodwill from midweek evaporates. Lose and once again everyone will be questioned.
Stand up to it. Stand up to these. They’ll bully and deceive and despise every sinew of Liverpool Football Club. I never want to watch a team that doesn’t stand up to that.
Liverpool have to start instilling hope. No more excuses. No more failure.
