Our Liverpool fans’ jury have their say on a mixed week that will end with a crucial clash at Leeds United
It’s been a case of one step forward, one step back for Liverpool this week. While they stopped the rot with a morale-boosting 2-0 win at West Ham United on Sunday, Wednesday’s 1-1 home draw with Sunderland showed the defending Premier League champions are still well below the levels they hit last season.
And so to Elland Road and Leeds United, who could well be a different proposition after they eased the pressure on manager Daniel Farke with a superb and surprise 3-1 home success over high-flying Chelsea in midweek.
Another victory on Saturday night would pile the pressure back on to Reds boss Arne Slot. However, if his side can emerge triumphant in West Yorkshire, seven points in the space of a week would not be a bad return at all given their ongoing travails.
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And ahead of the big match, our Liverpool fans’ jury have returned to have their say…
Andrew Cullen
It is difficult to weigh up how the last two games should be assessed. Our win at West Ham was welcome; the performance was better, and the team looked more stable, defensively and offensively. But, the malaise around the club, the players, and the fans returned on Wednesday evening, with an underwhelming performance against Sunderland.
It’s hard to work out whether the players have lost their faith in Arne Slot, or whether the fans have lost their faith in him. Perhaps it’s both. The performance was as flat as the atmosphere.
You could well point the finger at the crowd for this because the players draw energy from the crowd, but the inverse is also true: the crowd draws energy from the players. Perhaps the best example of this is when Florian Wirtz danced in the box, which led to the equaliser. For a moment at least, there was a pulse of electricity in the ground.
What is puzzling is why our flair players are not taking on the opposition; instead, the ball floats from side to side without any care. Yes, Sunderland adopted a low block, but that is not novel, is it? With such a gluttony of attacking talent, it really does raise an eye brow as to why those players seem unable to beat a man and create a chance.
Our performances feel lethargic, and fan mood has been infected by this lethargy. It feels like the players do not hear the fans.
Where now? We come back again to the central question: is Slot the man to turn this around? Can he do so? We are slouching towards a mediocre season, and it looks like each week there are more questions than answers.
James Noble
It felt like the game was purposefully pursued, more than it was chased, on Wednesday night. That appeared a form of progress for Liverpool. We were after three points rather than one, of course, but it’s the first time we’ve gone behind in the Premier League this term and come away with a result and the team and Anfield crowd put in a strong, co-ordinated effort.
Again, we often felt too passive and lacking in coherence and tempo. That was partly credit to a highly accomplished Sunderland team, although the above details did improve after the interval. Ongoing questions around Arne Slot are understandable, but further time and patience feels necessary as various individual and collective contexts develop.
Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz each contributed valuably to Sunday’s win at West Ham United, while the latter again stepped up in midweek. Mohamed Salah starting the last two on the bench represented an inevitable story, but felt logical enough with AFCON, balance and longer-term evolution in mind.
Two tough-looking away games, against Leeds United and against Internazionale, now arrive in quick succession. We’ll need more of that measured purposefulness and sturdiness.
They’re the kind of nights that can be among the best character-builders. Keep plotting our way forward in terms of approach, and hopefully results, and this week can be beneficial in the short, medium and long term.
