01 Oct 2014 22:22:10
I've stayed optimistic until today. Worst Liverpool performance I've seen in well over a year.

Enrique is possibly the most mindless player ever to play in the Champions League.

Sterling's confidence seems to have been shot by the Middlesborough debacle, although being played out on the wing doesn't seem to help.

Main worry though is we weren't the second best team in the league last season on paper, but we had by far the best team spirit of any of the big clubs, and that, which carried us to huge wins and thumping performances has gone.
Yes, obviously Suarez was hugely influential, but take the Arsenal game. Sterling and Sturridge were both as important as Suarez there, and both are still at the club (OK Studge is injured right now).
But we were blowing past teams at times last season with that team spirit, and there are multiple reasons for which me may have lost it:
*Balotelli. It's pointless to speculate what effect he may be having behind closed doors, but, he may well have caused a rift, even just through being signed. He was selfish tonight and that could be related.
*Too many new signings. Although a good proportion of the players who held that spirit from last season remain at the club, enough personnel have changed for their to be some kind of change in the atmosphere within the dressing room.
*Tactical change. Last season we played with a ridiculous energy, which brought about a positive vibe in and among the team. That energy has gone. Whether we've been intentionally trying to play slower or not, we've lost the midfield dynamism and ability on the break of last season. And that can't have all packed his suitcase for the Nou Camp.
There needs to be a change. Not managerially, I think those are huge overreactions, to be honest, Brendan was a quasi-God two months back. But, take Ferguson's ideas as the way to manage a group of players. Fergie would swap assistant manager every now and then just to mix things up and keep the players on their toes. Offer Didi Hamaan a role maybe, switch things up a little.