Another week, another pair of defeats and no sign of it coming to an end any time soon. On this week’s Scouser Tommies Jim Boardman and Jay Reid are frustrated with what is fast becoming a serious crisis. Five months after parading the Premier League trophy around the streets of Liverpool, why are Arne Slot and his players making it look like it never happened?
Defeats against Brentford and Palace, six goals conceded across the two games, out of the cup, 7th in the league, Anfield miserable and not just because of the biblical rain swirling down onto the pitch. Was it right to play the kids in the League Cup, to guarantee going out and leave some room in the calendar for rest? Or was this the one time to go big so early in this competition, stop the slide?
Playing the kids made it easier to come up with an excuse, but is it time to stop sharing excuses and start coming up with answers? There isn’t just one big problem with Liverpool right now, It’s a multitude of smaller ones and so many of them feel avoidable. And so many have responsibility for that, even if all eyes are on the one man who has to try and explain all these defeats to fans through the media. Words can be powerful and the hosts are worried about how much damage some words, unintentionally, might just be doing.
One example of those problems the hosts point to is just how much the Reds are missing their last No.7 - his enthusiasm, his determination, his ability to get fans on their feet as he fights for a win. Where is the fight now? And where is the plan? The current No.7 is a different kind of player, expected to play a very different role, but has anyone worked out what that is?
That No.7 shirt is huge at this club, worn by arguably the greatest man in Liverpool FC history; a player, a manager, a part of the very fabric of this club. Kenny Dalglish of course, who has a movie coming out next week all about his life and especially his time at Anfield. The movie shows The King’s ability to balance self belief and confidence with his humility and trademark humour, and gives viewers a real insight into the philosophy that this club is rooted in.
The hosts discuss how much the current incumbent of one of the biggest jobs in world football, and his charges, could learn from the great man and his career. Watching the movie would be a good start, but maybe they could do with some one on ones. The hosts aren’t saying Arne should go and get coaching hints from The King, or that players should get lessons in how to defend set pieces from him, but there is so much the great man could talk to them about that might just inspire them, might just help him, might just see them through the most pressure some of them have ever been under. And there are other legends who could offer insight that isn’t in the coaching manuals.
Also in this week’s episode Jim and Jay look at the idea of using a back three - as seen in the League Cup - and look at the options for who could make up that three if it was transferred to the big games. What might it bring, what would it take away, would there be potential to give decent service to the front men the club now has? Would it give the Reds the stability needed to get out of this rut? Huge games lie in front of the Champions now, starting with Aston Villa and followed in rapid succession by Real Madrid and then Manchester City, before another international break arrives to interrupt it all. Do Liverpool need tweaks or upheaval, and what might a credible “stop the bleeding” plan actually look like?
As always, no matter how bad it gets for us, our old mates from down by the river always manage to find a way to cheer us up. Not that they mean to.
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