More Liverpool Posts

Liverpool Article 26 Sep 2026
Bournemouth v Liverpool A Liverpool Perspective







Liverpool set up with Barcola on his favoured left flank, while Gakpo switched over to the right to accomodate him. This should have given Barcola the chance to use his blistering pace to get at the veteran Cherries right-back Smith. Should have. There were two problems with this, firstly Barcola refused to make runs in behind him but also most of the chances to play a ball in behind for Barcola to chase wee passed up in favour of playing it down the other flank for Gakpo to battle for. Whether that was a result of defined tactics or Barcola's failure to make runs is hard to be sure.



It was a hard game, against the hardest working team in the Premier League, who press like demons and never stop running. Liverpool never tried to go toe-to-toe with them in that regard, though they did press, they instead looked to get on the ball and move the ball about quickly. It was almost old school Liverpool, letting the ball do the work and looking to wear down the opposition by using the ball and being aggressive to win the ball back extremely quickly to ensure Bournemouth got very little respite from chasing.



The big problem, as I mentioned earlier with regards to Barcola, was the lack of movement up top. It meant all the good play counted for very little return in term of chances. In fact most of the main chances came from the midfielders getting fouled for free kicks near the box, while they were waiting on a forward to give them an option. It is very frustrating to watch, as it is so much better than last season, but lacking such a small thing to be many times more dangerous as an attacking threat.







Bournemouth



I can see why the Cherries have a habit of losing goals late in games, their new system is not so much gegenpressing as the nuclear option! The way they work is incredible, all-out press from the first kick to the last. It will probably take them a few more months to get fit enough to last 90 minutes playing the way they do, but when they do they will a massive test for anyone. It is certainly an entertaining watch and they will be well worth the admission money under Rose.



For the first 20-25 minutes, they were the better team as Liverpool struggled to cope with the press, though they did fade, understandably, during the first half. If their final ball had been better, the result might have been very different, as they mostly coped with a static Liverpool frontline quite easily, only to get caught out by one piece of good movement. They do need to work on their set pieces, which mostly went straight into Alisson's arms but they were winning the 50-50s and seemed like a team that wanted it more.



They did have to spend spells of the game chasing the ball, but overall they played well and it is easy to see why they have taken the lead in most of their matches. Facing them is going to require teams to be at it from the off, though you do wonder if they will be able to keep up this pace all season with European football as well. They do not have the largest squad to cope with injuries, which could cost them. They still look like a team that should be battling for a European place at the end of the season.







Liverpool





Alisson - made a great save from Evanilson as well as claiming almost every set piece comfortably.





Araujo - did well, was aggressive in the press and challenge and supported the attacks well. Did make one mistake late on, but overall was very good.





Jacquet - once again he played well. Iraola's liking for aggressive front foot play from back to front is bringing the best out of him and not letting his laid back nature ever become an issue. He has shown himself to be very good at smothering players and is very good on the ball as well.





van Dijk - another good performance from the veteran. It just shows how much difference the way of playing can make to players, van Dijk looked a spent force, constantly running away from attackers and refusing to commit to challenges. Now he is back on the front foot, being aggressive and attacking the ball at every opportunity, he once more looks like a top class player.





Kerkez - had a very good game defensively and completely shut down Rayan, this despite getting no protection or help at all from Barcola in front of him. Not so good going forward as he did not link up well with Barcola, understandably as it is a new partnership down the left.





Szoboszlai - came fairly close with a couple of free kicks, but not his most effective game at all. He is still a bit absent from the centre too early for my liking. His booking right after half time was needless and not a good challenge.





Wirtz - once again he was left with no movement to pick out. Early on he just tried to play the through balls anyway, in the hope that Isak would make the run, but Isak just stood and watched. When Isak did make a run for him, his pass was not good enough, so a mixed performance. His pressing and closing down, movement off the ball to create space (including for the goal) was very good but he looks bereft of confidence, passing up a chance to shoot in favour of a difficult pass. He is doing work for the team, but now he needs the team to do work for him as well.





Mac Allister - decent game, would have been good but for a silly error which gifted Bournemouth possession on the edge of the box and another moment of pathetic play acting after he lost the ball. Those moments when he stays down for no reason other than he has made a mistake are the most frustrating. Players are human, they make mistakes, no one expects them to be perfect, but when they give it away because of one they should be trying to win it back, not rolling around on the floor pretending to be hurt. You have already put your team under pressure with the mistake, why compound it by leaving them a man down for a while?





Gakpo - despite playing on the right once more, the Dutchman had a good game, creating the goal with an excellent piece of play. It was one of the few times he was given the ball in a position to attack, rather than having to fight for possession. He did swap to the left after Munoz came on but his best chance to get on the ball where he could do damage saw Isak mess up the pass, twice.





Isak - he scored, so you have to say he did the most important part of his job, but that was one of very few flashes of good play from him overall. If he had not managed a goal, he would have had an abysmal game, barely bothering to make runs, not pressing, utterly unable to hold up the ball and being very loose with his passing. At one point towards the end of the first half, he motioned to Szoboszlai to play the ball in behind for him to run onto, the ball was played and he just stood still and watched it! At his best, Isak is very good at the early runs to get the ball, at Newcastle he was always on the move when they got possession back and would fight for the ball and usually held it up very well, if there was no opportunity to run with it. He seems lazy and sluggish right now, and so easily pushed off the ball that it is almost embarrassing. I have to wonder if he is 100% after his injury, both physically and mentally, there is so much more to come from him.





Barcola - a very disappointing performance. He was weak on the ball, never made runs without it and refused a number of chances to run at Smith. The worst part was the way he pulled out of chances to make any kind of challenge, to allow Smith free rein to run past him. He never even got his body in the way to at least slow the full-back down.





Nyoni - came on in the 71st in the place of Wirtz. The team looks much better with him in the deep-lying role. He frees up Mac Allister and is much better at covering the spaces.





Munoz - took the place of Barcola in the 71st minute. Did a lot to stop Truffert from having an effect going forward, but Truffert pretty much nullified his attacking threat as well.





Koumas - subbed on for Isak in the 81st minute. His hold up play was good and enabled the team to get more control of the ball. It was interesting to see that he was not afraid to bawl out his team-mates for failing to press with him and to try and get them to follow him into a high press. He does need to work on his finishing, his one chance he hit straight at Petrovic.





Gravenberch - replaced Szoboszlai in the 81st minute. Played as the 10 behind Koumas but never really got into the game much.

Liverpool Article 18 Sep 2026
Liverpool v Fulham A Liverpool Perspective







An horrendously flat performance and atmosphere. Even under Klopp, there were times that the weekend game following a midweek UCL match were similarly bad, though not quite this bad. Iraola's attempt to freshen up the line-up failed to have the effect of boosting energy, instead the changes just affected the team's fluency and the link ups were simply not happening. The lack of movement was shocking, with Isak playing musical statues without the music and Barcola and Munoz offering little in the way of runs in behind. That left Fulham able to condense the spaces and there was no one moving them around to create spaces for their teammates to get on the ball. The few times there was movement, Liverpool created their chances from.



The midfield set up did not work, Gravenberch and Szoboszlai do not have the defensive nous and allow themselves to be dragged all over the place. Often they just wander about and completely forget to work as a pairing. They both have excellent mobility and the ability is there to work as a pair, but they lack the mentality to make it work and were completely shown up by the midweek performance of Nyoni and Mac Allister, who did act in concert. On the left side, Tsimikas, Wirtz and Barcola had no understanding and were on completely different wavelengths, resulting in a mess down that side and it was little surprise that Iraola sought to make a change at half-time.



The second half did see an improved performance from the Reds, but it was still very poor. If Fulham were not such a weak side, this could have been a totally different result. As it was, LFC could really have gone on to win the game but for some dreadful finishing and a complete lack of running from the forwards. The biggest overall issue was something that has been a recurring issue of poor performances for years, slow movement of the ball. The play was just always too slow, there was no sudden injection of pace to catch anyone out, it was just constant slow, slow, slow, giving Fulham plenty of time to adjust defensively as the ball rolled about at a leisurely pace.





Fulham





The London side are very poor under Arbeloa, it is no surprise they are down near the bottom as they showed little sign of being a genuine threat against Liverpool, despite having wide open spaces in midfield to run through. Unless Arbeloa improves things quickly there, he will soon be picking up his P45, as they look like certain relegation battlers right now. It is only that Coventry have been so shockingly poor that has seen them avoid the spotlight for their poor form. It has not been helped by letting Lukic go, who was key for them last season.







Liverpool





Alisson - made one big error early on, giving the ball away in the box, which caused absolute panic stations. Other than that he was solid and, when the chance was there, he looked to pick out the runner, as he did with an early ball to Wirtz.





Araujo - despite being at right-back, he is playing very well. Not as effective as a natural full-back would be when getting forward, but he supports the attacks very well, as well as being solid defensively.





Jacquet - apart from one lax moment, when he gave away a throw deep inside the Liverpool half, he was very good.





van Dijk - his passing out from the back was very poor, those big diagonals were unusually inaccurate from him. Defensively he was sound, though Fulham did not exactly push him.





Tsimikas - had an awful half, could not link up and his only good point was a decent early cross which was let down by the lack of players attacking it. It was no surprise when he was taken off at half-time, though he was not the only candidate for the hook!





Szoboszlai - his set pieces were good, but the rest of his play was poor and he shows a tendency towards the casual that is maddening. There is so much there, but he is drifting as a player, not showing full focus and sloppy on the ball, it needs to be sorted before he loses his way.





Wirtz - he was the only one working for the team of the front four that started the game. He was moving players to create space for others off the ball, but when he gets the ball every one just drops off towards, pulling the defenders closer to him and leaving him hemmed in. It is frustrating to watch him play a good through ball which ends up looking poor because the intended target could not be bothered to run. That was particularly prevalent in this match. He also pulled the centre back away with a run to create space for Barcola to shoot, but the shot was awful. He is certainly not the issue in the midfield, but he was being made to look bad by those around him. At one point, his only alternative was to turn around and play the ball back to Araujo, after every player in front just dropped off and blocked up any possibility of forward movement.





Gravenberch - he was terrible, his passing is abysmal and he was not having a good game defensively. His lack of positional discipline is appalling.





Munoz - he had the beating of Robinson but had no idea what to do with the ball. He just ended up running with it head down and eventually losing it, usually, or, occasionally, playing a blind pass to no one. His movement was poor as well, but he did have one of the better chances when his header was well saved by Leno. He needs to learn to get his head up when on the ball and could do with utilising his pace more to make runs in behind the defence. He is a willing worker, but does tend to get caught ball watching when he has tracked back.





Isak - possibly the worst player on the pitch. Not just because of how weak and ineffectual he was on the ball, but because of his complete lack of effort. He made no runs to open up the play for others or to get in behind himself. Worst was a number of times a ball was played that he could have got to but he did not make the effort. Sometimes it was through balls that he just stood and watched, the worst example being a ball played through by Mac Allister that he just stood and watched, but he also gave up on one overhit pass that he could easily have kept in but it was too much effort and he just stopped running. He did have one good moment, but his shot was as weak as his effort.





Barcola - struggled to get into the game. The understanding is not there yet with others. His finishing was poor.





Kerkez - came on at half-time in the place of Tsimikas. Much as I love the Greek Scouser, Kerkez was an immediate upgrade, his link up with Wirtz is showing a lot of positive signs.





Mac Allister - took the place of Gravenberch in the 60th minute. His arrival allowed the team to create pressure on Fulham for the first time in the match, due to him not wandering around and leaving a huge hole for Fulham to get out. He does look like a player playing for a new deal.





Gakpo - subbed on for Munoz in the 60th minute. The Dutchman is having a good season and he offered improved movement and link up play.





Frimpong - replaced Araujo in the 72nd minute. Got forward at every opportunity and managed to get a good cross in which Ngumoha really should have done better with.





Ngumoha - came on in the stead of Barcola. Apart from failing to put away that Frimpong cross, Ngumoha was again awful. It is not just that he is not playing well, it is the lack of effort which is frustrating. He is little help defensively, very half-hearted (at best) with his pressing and never wants to work for the team off the ball. He does not want to create space for others, he just wants to get the ball to feet and run with it. He needs to learn that it is a team game and sometimes you have to make runs knowing the ball is not going to come, but simply to create a gap for a teammate to use. It is understandable that he will make mistakes, but the lack of effort for the team is something that is not excusable. Especially when you are 18 years old, you should be working your backside off to make an impression, but he does not do that at all.

Liverpool Article 11 Sep 2026
Ipswich Town v Liverpool A Liverpool Perspective









A difficult performance to really judge properly as the early goals killed the game and it was just a case of being careful not to give them hope in the second half. The first half showcased some really good football and you can see the signs of what Iraola wants the players to do. It is not there yet, but it is starting to come together and at times it was great to watch. Liverpool won at a canter and fully deserved the win and the clean sheet. It also looked very much like a penalty to me at the end of the first half, when Gakpo was wiped out in the box. Certainly as much of a penalty as the one Liverpool conceded against Forest. It was a very similar incident, except a clearer cut foul after the ball had gone, which should have made it an easier decision for the officials. Unfortunately there is never any consistency, which is fine without VAR, but when you have it and you still get different decisions week by week for the same incidents, I think we need to ask questions of the officials.



One thing that really does need a lot of work on for LFC is the press. It is so disjointed, when it is working well the triggers should be seen by all, rather than one or two as currently happens. Then you sometimes have more reacting to the one or two, but that second or so can be all the difference in a press. It just gives the opposition a chance to find an out ball. It is improving though and, even with the team being a work in progress, Iraola is unbeaten as LFC manager in competitive matches, in fact he is unbeaten since 3rd January in competitive matches with both Liverpool and Bournemouth. A remarkable run of 21 games.







Ipswich Town





They were Europe's 9th highest spenders in the summer, but it is clear that it is still not enough to bridge the quality gap between themselves and the top Premier League teams. Lukic was a good signing for them, and a huge loss for Fulham, but he was overrun in the middle and they need to give him some help in there, instead of having Enciso tackle him when he gets the ball! They have a manager who has so far managed to avoid relegation from the Premier League, so maybe they will be able to survive, but he will need a lot of luck. They have so many weaknesses that they are trying to overcome by hard work but they need better players most of all. They were outmatched completely.



The one tactic they did seem to have, other than hitting and hoping from range, was to get it out on the right and whip crosses in deep and overload the back stick. I assume they had decided to go that way expecting Frimpong to be at right-back and were looking to expose his lack of height. In the event it was a workable tactic as Araujo is not a natural full-back and kept drifting too far in towards the centre to cover, leaving a big gap at the back post for them. They did get some joy because of that, but failed to make the most of it. It will be interesting to see if any other team copies that tactic, after watching this match, as it was clear that it could be a problem if Araujo does not hold the width a bit more.







Liverpool





Alisson - at one point he showed good pace to beat Enciso to a loose ball but he had a few iffy moments, including a failed punch that dropped between his legs luckily. There were also a number of poor kicks, when put under pressure, but that is more of a symptom of a bigger issue, something that has plagued the team for a while - the lack of movement to play the ball to. When the ball is played around at the back, the forwards rarely make runs, the one time Isak did, the ball never came but he created space, which helped lead to one of his goals. Alisson used to have Firmino, Mane and Salah pulling the defence all over the place, creating options for him to pick out, but now he has nothing when he has the ball. The question has to be whether or not his kicking has been compromised by his injury problems, which might explain the lack of movement, but it does just seem like they are expecting the ball to be slowly shuffled between the keeper and back four and so just stand around watching and waiting until Alisson is forced to launch it. A bit of movement when the ball is at the back and it could also release pressure as it creates gaps. I am sure Iraola will be looking at that too, but he can only coach so much into the players at a time.





Araujo - had a very good game, got forward a little but mostly he supported the attack, rather than becoming the focal point like a more attacking full-back often can do. That created a more solid platform for the team to work from, with less space left for Mac Allister to cover from the middle.





Jacquet - once again looked good, strong defensively but also is beginning to show an impressive level of ability to play out from the back.





van Dijk - has stopped just running away and is looking all the better for it. His defending has returned to being front foot and it is contributed massively towards the clean sheet.





Kerkez - I am not sure why he is taking so much heat for his performance, Fatawu struggled against him all game, and it was him winning the ball back and playing it to Gakpo which led to the first goal. His link up, rotation and movement with Gakpo and Wirtz down the left was very good and where all the quality play was coming from. Yes, he can be rash and he makes mistakes defensively and his delivery can be very inconsistent, but all of that could be said about Robertson, even at his peak, it did not stop Robbo becoming (probably) the best left-back in the world. Kerkez will improve as the team begins to play more of a style that suits him, I would expect.





Szoboszlai - does great things at times but also has a tendency to be incredibly sloppy with his passing under no pressure at all. He really needs to cut that out and learn to focus.





Wirtz - another who is getting pelters far beyond any reason. His movement and pressing is excellent, in fact the second goal came about because of his off the ball movement creating the space for Gakpo to get on the ball and take the time to pick out Isak. Without his movement, Gakpo is under pressure and that pass almost certainly does not happen. He just needs the team to rise up to his level and make the runs for his passes.





Mac Allister - was very good, used his body well against Enciso when he would otherwise have been through and his positional discipline is providing a much more solid midfield. If he was just a little more mobile, he could make himself the answer in there. And he is even reducing the time he spends rolling on the floor pretending to be hurt now referees are ignoring it.





Munoz - started well but his failure to ever get his head up and look at what is around him meant he faded out of the game as they learnt to just close him out with numbers. Because he just puts his head down and runs, they could afford to just get bodies around him, without worrying about spaces elsewhere, as he had no intention of picking a pass to a teammate that could have utilised the space.





Isak - looked much sharper and faster after his goals, as the confidence flowed. Still looks weak at times, which suggests he is still not mentally fully over his injury. Overall a very good game, though the keeper did not cover himself in glory, he did his job by putting the ball on target.





Gakpo - two excellent assists and an all-round good game. He is having an excellent season so far. He showed strength, skill and vision, plus he should have had a penalty.





Gravenberch - came on in the 64th minute in the place of Isak. He looks so far off it right now, he is playing higher up as he cannot be trusted to hold position and that just exposes his slack passing.





Barcola - took the place of Munoz in the 64th minute. Did enough to excite the Liverpool fans but he does need a little more end product. His pace, movement, work rate and skill look exceptional.





Nyoni - subbed on for Mac Allister in the 84th minute. Looks so composed and natural in there, plus he has that added mobility that Mac Allister lacks.





Koumas - replaced Wirtz in the 91st minute. Puts himself about and works hard but was unable to really do much in the time he was on.

Liverpool Article 04 Sep 2026
Liverpool v Nottingham Forest A Liverpool Perspective









Iraola certainly showed that he is willing to make the big calls, not just dropping fan favourite Ngumoha, but also Gravenberch after their poor performances against Newcastle and shifted Gakpo from his usual left-wing berth to the right. Overall it did not quite work in the first half, with Forest the better team, but it did improve as the game went on and it was starting to work and gain control of the match before the subs. There are clear signs of some other changes as well.



I think I should start with the press. That starts at the front, which is a problem as Isak is an extremely weak link, he is the slowest to close down and applies pressure extremely weakly, leaving an easy out ball. In midfield, the combination of Szoboszlai and Mac Allister was much more disciplined than last week against Newcastle. Mac Allister mostly sat in, while Szoboszlai was usually 5 or so yards in front of him, but they were not being drawn out together, so there was usually one there on the cover all the time. Unfortunately that was usually Mac Allister and he does lack the mobility to get about the pitch and provide cover in behind the full-backs when they were attacking. Neither Jacquet nor van Dijk wanted to get drawn out wide to cover, so that left gaps for counters, which Forest were able to exploit. The major improvement was from the centre-backs, who did not simply keep dropping off but tried to hold a line and attack the ball with a bit of aggression.



Defensively there were also alterations to the setpiece defending, which had been horrendous last season. Frimpong is now the furthest forward, looking to use his pace to break on the counter and not letting his lack of height hamper the chances of clearing. The only issue is that the rest of the team has to adapt, someone needs to cover. Mainly that was Szoboszlai, but on the first Forest goal no one did, so it left space for a simple goal. That is something that needs to be worked on. Someone has to be filling in until Frimpong can return to station.



Going forward there were some better signs, a few more early runs which the players picked out, but unfortunately most of those passes ended up with Isak, who weakly surrendered possession or failed to get onto them after being outpaced by defenders. There were some better signs, certainly down the right side Gakpo and Frimpong caused problems though they did not quite link up as a pair. Often Frimpong's runs with the ball just ended up with him losing possession in a crowd.







Nottingham Forest





Forest were the better team in the first half but in the second tried to sit in and defend, ceding control and it nearly cost them all the points, but for a very disputed penalty. Overall though, they can go home satisfied with a massive improvement in their performance level and a deserved point. They did need a lot of work and the addition of a transition coach (James Holland) may have had a major effect as their attacks were very much on the transition. It was all about picking off the ball and moving it forward quickly and keep it moving forward. They had lots of runners and looked to exploit any space left by Liverpool players being forward.



They do have issues, Williams on the left being the main one. I love his enthusiasm and work rate, but he is not the best defender and it is no coincidence that the right flank was where Liverpool created most of their danger. His defending on the first Liverpool goal was shocking in particular. He sold himself far too easily. He did the same earlier when Frimpong did his spin in the box, he was lucky that there was cover as his defending was horrible there too and early in the second half when Gakpo spun him. He is far too rash and, on another day, his defending would have cost more goals. Ndoye is also another weakness, as he has the same annoying trait as Mac Allister, in that he looks to constantly throw himself to the ground under no challenge or when he has committed a foul to try and win a decision. If he just stayed on his feet, so often he would be in a dangerous position with the ball. He did take his goal well, which is all the more annoying as he could have so many more chances to shoot if he was not throwing himself about!



In the centre of midfield, Schlager did well putting himself about, but is limited on the ball, which leaves the main creative influence in there being McAtee, who started really well but faded out of the game before he was taken off. What they really need is another Gibbs-White to play in there. Actually two, so one can replace Ndoye as well! That is one player who is in no way a weakness, Gibbs-White was their best player. They have a solid defence and the brilliance of Gibbs-White (how on earth did he not make the England squad in the summer?) which gives them a platform to build on and they are going to be a difficult team to beat when they are fully adjusted to Glasner's system.







Liverpool





Alisson - showed he is still a top keeper, not just making saves but being quick to react to danger. Looked much more like himself.





Frimpong - he is getting slaughtered for the first goal, but he was doing his job on set pieces, which is to be the high man and then he looked to press the ball, which is correct. The mistake was by the rest of the team to not adjust for it. Gakpo was just stood watching instead of tracking back, none of the central midfielders were covering, probably because Gakpo was out there and had Ndoye covered initially, and so there was just a big gap. Not his fault at all. My biggest bugbear with him was his tendency to just run into blind alleys with the ball and fall over looking for a free kick, when he should have laid the ball off earlier. Overall, he was nothing like as bad as people are making out, but there is still a lot of room to improve as well.





Jacquet - needs to be a bit more aggressive, he is a very similar defender to van Dijk in a lot of ways but needs to get on the front foot more and attack the ball, rather than waiting for it to come to him. Absolutely caught napping on Forest's second, he was in a good position to deal with Williams but fell asleep and let him run off him and failed to react quickly enough to get back when he did realise.





van Dijk - a much better performance, with the big Dutchman making more of an effort to hold a higher line and attack the ball, rather than dropping off. He has clearly lost a yard or even two of pace though.





Kerkez - needs to do better on the ball but he showed flashes, such as his pass to Gakpo just after the first goal, which Gakpo should have done more with.





Szoboszlai - much better from him in midfield, but he still lacks defensive awareness and has this annoying habit of just going and standing alongside Isak in the frontline when the team have the ball. There is usually a nice space between the defence and midfield where he could be to receive the ball or make runs from, but he just wants to push into an area where he can do nothing and be closely marked. Ended up at right-back, where he showed he can play with discipline.





Wirtz - finally getting some movement to pick out and he is doing so. Still not enough, but there is improvement and it is giving him options. Had an excellent finish for a goal which was chalked off, unfortunately. Got an assist on the second goal with some excellent play and generally caused them a fair few problems with his movement as well. Worked so





Mac Allister - a disciplined performance, with some nice through passes, but his lack of mobility and defensive awareness is always a hindrance in this role. With him there, the flanks will always be wide open to counters, he does not read the play and then lacks mobility to get across late.





Munoz - looked good on either side. Worked very hard and was always working back to provide extra cover. Scored a good goal. Has pace and strength.





Isak - so slow and weak, but showed some good movement, if only he was not too slow and weak to either get to the ball in behind or to hold onto the ball into his feet. Scored a goal, but the rest of his contribution was poor. His contribution to the press is neglible, almost lazy.





Gakpo - at fault badly on Forest's first goal, failed to track the runner even though Frimpong was forward from the set piece and he could see him pressing in front. Was obviously asked to play high, in a similar way to the way Salah did, in open play, looking to press the defence rather than dropping in. Constantly rolled Williams easily and played an excellent ball across for the first equaliser. He had probably been Liverpool's most dangerous player before coming off.





Ngumoha - replaced Gakpo in the 71st minute. First touches were good, beating a man and then laying the ball and making a run in behind, but the return ball never came. After that he seemed to revert to the usual and waiting for the ball to come to him to feet.





Tsimikas - was brought on in the stead of Kerkez in the 71st minute. His right foot is still just a swinger, that is for sure.





Gravenberch - the third player to come on in the 71st minute triple substitution, replacing Frimpong. Showed flashes of his ability to protect the ball and even managed to complete a pass after. Much better but the circumstances meant he was able to stay higher up the pitch, so his lack of positional discipline was not an issue.





Araujo - took the place of Jacquet in the 77th minute. The defence looks much more solid with him in the backline, due to his aggression. Iraola may have a decision to make, as the pairing of Jacquet and van Dijk looks too laid back and either paired with Araujo might be a more balanced pair.





Nyoni - subbed on for Mac Allister in the 77th minute. There are signs that he could be the answer in there, he has the positional discipline and mobility, along with good ability on the ball, but his defensive awareness was not really tested enough to know if he is ready to take up that spot. Also could do with a bit more bite in the tackle, plus filling out a bit physically.

Liverpool Article 29 Aug 2026
Newcastle United v Liverpool A Liverpool Perspective









A fitting game to start the season, with two of Keegan's teams facing each other and playing out an enjoyable draw. The right result overall, as Liverpool did dominate the play and pushed Newcastle back for long periods, but silly errors and weak defending gave Newcastle their goals. There were some notable signs of improvement over last season, particularly Liverpool being able to keep going and going for the full 90 minutes and eventually score an incredibly late equaliser via the spot. The LFC side clearly still needs improvement, both on the training pitch and transfer market, but the signs are there that this will be a much more watchable team than last season's was.



One thing that has not changed is the quality of the officials, the referee was absolutely abysmal throughout, both teams have reasons to be angry with his bizarre decisions. At least VAR was much less intrusive, that was a big positive, just need some competent officials out on the pitch now!



The biggest issues Iraola has to fix this season are down the centre of the pitch, that is where the two goals Newcastle scored could have easily been stopped, regardless of anything else. Isak is too lightweight in the challenge, he presses half-heartedly and he looked way off the pace. A lot of the blame for his lacklustre performance is being placed on the boos from the Newcastle fans, but he has played this way every time he has pulled on a Liverpool shirt, so I am not sure that is relevant at all. In fact, if anything he looked a little more up for chasing back and pressing, he just failed miserably to have any positive effect.



Szoboszlai and Gravenberch as a pairing have no understanding, Szoboszlai was constantly too far forward, leaving a huge hole behind and never responded when Gravenberch got forward too. Szoboszlai's tackling is powder puff as well, which does not help matters. His Dutch midfield partner is even more of a problem, he can break up play fairly effectively via interceptions and using his body, but then he wants to charge forward with the ball, instead of just making the simple pass forward. Gravenberch's inability to pass accurately and his lack of attacking intelligence means that his forward runs inevitably just end up with the opposition breaking into the space he has left behind him. Space that Szoboszlai should have dropped in to fill, but is far too busy trying to be an attacking hero, rather than a team player. Positional sense would help the team a lot in there.



The biggest issue of all though is the captain. Virgil has been a great player for Liverpool, but he has become increasingly poor over the last year. The question is whether his unwillingness to engage when it is needed, and instead just backing off and off and off continually, is a consequence of his legs going or a lack of confidence. Both Newcastle goals would have been much more difficult to score, or even prevented, if he had simply engaged with the attack, rather than running away. Virgil has to forget the years when his aura alone was enough to make opponents mess up and force them to beat him.







Newcastle United





Newcastle looked like a team for the taking, but Liverpool kept handing them a goal start! They lacked creativity in the build up and surprisingly played counter attacking football, which is not what Jaissle is known for. The set up with Wissa off Osula did not work and they were ridiculously slow to make the desperately needed change of taking off Osula, despite him barely being able to move. In these days of 5 substitutions being allowed, it was crazy not to, at the very latest, replace him at half-time, after 20 minutes of him hobbling around in obvious pain. Especially as it was clear that their midfield was struggling to get hold of the ball, an earlier change could have allowed them to get an extra body in there. It could turn out to be a very expensive error if Osula has caused himself more damage by staying on the pitch.



They look very much a work in progress, but they will need to find some creativity if they are to challenge at the top end of the table, as they will not be able to rely on the opposition handing them simple goals on a plate every week. They should be a much stronger outfit once they bed in their new signings, though they do still look to lack a genuine creative player. Also have to say that they look weak defensively down the right flank, Gakpo got a lot of joy out of Dedic and he will need to improve.







Liverpool





Alisson - oddly never even took goal kicks, which were left to van Dijk to just lump up field. Had very little to do, so difficult to judge his performance, though I do wonder if peak-Alisson would have saved the first shot.





Frimpong - his reading of the game is suspect and he is weak, but he kept going and worked hard for the team. Barnes got very little joy out of him.





Jacquet - looked very good on the ball, but he was not decisive enough defensively at times. Rather than waiting on Alisson or van Dijk to get over, just deal with it and sort it out with them afterwards. For a first Premier League run out though, after a lengthy injury spell, it was a decent performance. There were a couple of times he did look a little leggy and lacking in pace, but that could well be simply tired legs as he works his way to full fitness.





van Dijk - his defending was a huge part of Liverpool's problems last season, this season looks to be more of the same. It is a major headache as there is no obvious replacement within the club's ranks. If he is not going to hold the line and be aggressive with his defending, the pressing game Iraola wants to play will be severely hampered. Both goals came as a consequence of him refusing to close down the man on the ball and instead just backing away. At least try and make them do something under pressure.





Kerkez - he was beaten badly for pace once by Elanga, which he should have done more to prevent using his body, but he did much better for the rest of the game against him. Newcastle did have a spell after their first goal where they tried to put the ball in to the space behind him for Elanga to attack, but they got very little joy out of it. Though a lot of the failing of the tactic was down to their poor accuracy of pass, rather than Kerkez's defending. Going forward his crossing is being heavily criticised, but I would more question the lack of players presenting themselves as an option for the ball in and attacking crosses.





Szoboszlai - on those rare occasions he was in position to defend, he was weak in the tackle, which is a real problem with him. He spent far too much of the game playing right up top almost alongside Isak. He would be far better playing deeper and receiving the ball on the burst to run into those places at speed. He was making himself incredibly easy to mark and leaving too much space in the midfield. He has to learn to drop deep when Gravenberch runs forward and anticipate the most likely event when it happens, which is that Gravenberch will misplace a simple pass and give it to the opposition. He did take the penalty well, but the rest of his performance was poor. He can do much better. So much better.





Wirtz - he needs movement, right now there is little to none in the Liverpool frontline. The few times he had an option, he played it in, but it was normally Isak, who just meekly surrendered the ball. It does not help that he ends up having to drop far too deep to find space, as Szoboszlai was usually in and around where he would want to play.





Gravenberch - if he could just learn to sit deep and play from there, rather than constantly looking to get forward, he would be a much better player, as he showed in Slot's first season in charge at Anfield. Someone really needs to teach him how to pass the ball, as I have never seen a Liverpool player so bad at making a simple pass when on the move with the ball. And if he does find himself in space at the edge of the box at the end of a run, in a central position, take the shot!





Ngumoha - he might well have a ton of potential, but right now his actual is worse than Ben Doak was at Liverpool. At least Doak would drive forward when he received the ball and attack. Ngumoha can have all the space in the world down the flank, but he still just runs inside until he loses the ball. Also, would it hurt to actually make a run every now and again, rather than just standing and waiting for the ball into feet. He may not receive a pass when he makes a run, but he will give the defenders something to think about and move them about to cover. Hall had the deck chair and cigars out until he went off. Right now, Ngumoha is a kid that lacks football intelligence and needs a lot of work on that. However, the good is that he has improved his tracking back markedly. He was non-existent in terms of working back last season, but he got back when needed in this game. Hopefully that is a sign that he can be coached and that potential we keep hearing about is achievable.





Isak - dreadful performance, so weak on the ball and off it. Needs to do more. A lot more.





Gakpo - probably the MOTM. He was Liverpool's chief attacking threat, particularly when he drifted inside off the flank, which is what he had done before scoring the first equaliser. He looked to have the measure of Dedic but his shooting and crossing was mostly off the mark.





Munoz - replaced Ngumoha in the 63rd minute. Was so much more effective than Ngumoha and physically is a number of levels above the youngster. His hustle and bustle gave Hall real problems and led to the award of the spot kick.





Mac Allister - was brought on in the stead of Wirtz in the 63rd minute. It is worrying that a player with his lack of mobility and defensive nous made the defence so much more solid. All that was needed was one player to sit in front of the back four and hold there and he did that. It was one of his most effective performances in a Liverpool shirt. The problem is that he, like the other midfielders, wants to get forward normally, so I am not sure he can be relied upon as the answer to the wide open midfield.





Araujo - took the place of Jacquet in the 70th minute. Looked solid again.





Koumas - subbed on for Gravenberch in the 78th minute. Worked hard and put himself about, but never really got to make his mark on the match.

Liverpool Article 19 May 2026
Aston Villa v Liverpool A Liverpool Perspective









The usual story, wrong team choices, wrong tactics, boring football, it is just copy and paste all season. The only real difference has been the scorelines. This time Slot decided to start with a back three, Jones bizarrely playing right wing-back. It, unsurprisingly, failed miserably and the team reverted to a back four, but there was an imbalance to the side. It does seem Slot has learnt nothing, as the formation has never been an issue and changing it achieved nothing other than to make the players uncomfortable. When the tactics are clearly the problem, but you stick with the same ones, with only the front four making any attempt to press, and that half-arsed at best, while the midfield get stuck in no man's land as the defence drops off as fast as Virgil can go. Until they play like a team, either dropping off together and holding positions or all squeeze up together, there will always be major problems.



When you add that to the dross when on the ball, that is so ponderous and tedious that the commentators got bored enough to start discussing a balloon that was floating across the pitch, it is little wonder that the club is in turmoil. I have not even mentioned the lack of fitness or players' revolt against Slot's turgid regime either. It is astonishing that LFC are anywhere near qualifying for the Champions League this season, the play has certainly not deserved it, the total lack of creativity from open play has not deserved it and the manager and players' part-time hours have definitely deserved nothing. It is little wonder Salah has spoken out, just a shame Slot's ego is so huge that he will never see the truth in anything said as it criticises him and he cannot take criticism at all.



The problem is that the stats guys will point at the two possible (in the case of Martinez in the second half holding onto van Dijk's shirt I would say probable as he held on for so long it was laughable) penalties for Liverpool and the possession statistics in order to make it seem like it was bad luck and/or poor officiating that cost them. It was not either of those though. It was, as always, lack of work (the distance the team is covering has fallen massively from the levels under Klopp), lack of fight and lack of teamwork, all of which is stemming from a manager who is failing miserably. How much longer before someone acts and puts us Liverpool out of our misery and removes Slot? How much longer do we have to put up with moronic mouthpieces in the media making excuses for his failings? If I have to listen to David James telling live TV that Slot has done brilliant in first two seasons, so much better than Jurgen Klopp managed in his first three, I fear I might explode or at least throw something through the TV!







Aston Villa





Villa are no mugs, they have qualified for UCL next season (thanks to this victory) and they are in the Europa League final and they played well. The most obvious thing was the style of play was so much more cohesive. They were dropping off as a unit and springing forward on the attack with pace. They were taking advantage of the spaces being left to run at Liverpool and not wasting time passing it sideways if there was a forward pass on. Where LFC were taking a lot of passes to go from back to front, they were taking just two or three. Often Rogers would just run it forward, using the space to get right at the defence. Liverpool were given no time to organise their defence to keep them out and they probably should have scored more.



One thing that did stand out about Villa was their set pieces, both for how good they were offensively and how poor they were defensively. Their set piece coach McPhee is very good at coming up with imaginative routines to get the ball into dangerous areas and create opportunities, but his ability to organise them to deal with Liverpool's set pieces has to be questioned. Especially as both Liverpool's goals came from van Dijk getting on to a set piece. Maybe set piece coaching needs to be even more specialised and there needs to be offensive and defensive set piece coaches?







Liverpool





Mamardashvili - I really do not understand why he was bought, he might look good on a spreadsheet, but the minute you watch him play you can see that he is useless for this style of play and not a top class shotstopper either. If he becomes first choice keeper, Liverpool are in real trouble. Nowhere near good enough in any area of play. Probably should have saved a couple of their goals as well. Someone needs sacking for bringing him in.





Gomez - ended up being the main provider of width on his side for long periods, as no one was ahead of him a lot of the time, with Jones wandering about all over the pitch.





Konate - he is absolutely disastrous in this set up, he has no concentration level, he just wanders around aimlessly chasing players, rather than looking to be in position. At least with a high press, the rest of the backline could push up and mitigate the problem somewhat by closing up the space, giving him less room to roam. When they drop off, it just means that he tries to cover huge empty swathes of grass. His weak attempt to try and pretend to have passion, after throwing himself to the ground so pathetically under the slightest push by Watkins, was just embarrassing. The only place he really shows passion is in the local fashion boutiques getting the latest trash off the catwalk. His one-on-one defending is shocking, and basically consists of holding on and hoping the referee does not notice.





van Dijk - he is one of the biggest problems in the team and I am not referring to his support for Slot's disastrous reign. I am talking about his defending, or rather lack of it these days. It is he who sets the line and it is up to the others to take their position from it, but he is just cowardly now. He has lost his stellar confidence and just drops off straight away, even if the front players press. Those moments when he should be holding or even pushing up, he is busy running away back towards his goal. That is a huge problem as it is creating the huge gaps which leave the midfield in no man's land.





Kerkez - I feel sorry for him, he makes run after run after run forward and just gets ignored constantly. The one time he did get a pass, he produced a good cross but no one tried to attack it. It is really disturbing how must effort he is putting in for his teammates for such little return. Every wide player just cuts in and wastes possession, while he is there in acres of space just waiting. One of the few to show fight as well.





Szoboszlai - unfortunately for him, his game will be remembered for a hit and hope from miles out and a slip leading to a goal. It is a shame as once again he was all over the pitch trying to make things happen for the team. If only the rest of the team gave as much as the two Hungarians, we would look a lot better as a team. Though we would still be stuck with Slot's abysmal tactics....





Mac Allister - how is he not embarrassed by his pathetic cheating antics? Just please get rid of him (yes, I did have to retype this a few times to remove the swearing!), he is a hindrance. He is not even trying to hide his diving.





Gravenberch - when he was just sweeping up in front of the back four last season, he was excellent, but now he is just wandering about the pitch having little to no impact. He has no idea of when to get forward and when to stay back, no football brain at all.





Jones - he has flashes of good play, but that is all. He has no positional sense, he does not ever take a game and impose himself on it, he just flits in and out constantly.





Ngumoha - gets the ball, runs, waves his feet, maybe beats a couple of players but always ends up running into dead ends. Is nobody coaching him to vary his game? To make runs outside sometimes instead of always cutting in or to play the full-back in who overlaps him? He is way off being anything near a Premier League player right now and it shows how bad the team is playing that he is creating such excitement by doing so little of real value yet. It is not like when Fowler or Owen broke through and just lit up the team. It is worrying as the coaching right now at the club is so bad that he shows no sign of anything improving and he is being given no platform to get the most out of what he does have either. He reminds me a lot of Sterling, but Sterling made massive improvement by being played out of position at full-back, to teach him the game, I think he might need a similar treatment. Something certainly needs to be done to improve on his defensive awareness, one of the Villa goals he just stood and watched the player take his time before shooting, making no effort at all to put pressure on the ball. He is a bit on the lazy side defensively, it must be said, when you would expect a youngster desperate to make an impression overdo it, if anything. I think the promises of first team football to get him to sign are a big mistake, he is playing like a player who expects his place, rather than one looking to earn a long term place. His pressing is abysmal currently, he makes no attempt to actually close anything off, just gets in the general vicinity, while leaving loads of space to be played around.





Gakpo - abysmal performance, I know he is not a central striker but he should still be able to make a decent fist of it, he certainly has enough experience in the role. Oh and his understanding of offside is far worse than Darwin Nunez's ever was.





Chiesa - replaced Gomez in the 66th minute. Worked hard but got little service and spent large periods chasing back trying to help out.





Wirtz - was brought on in the stead of Gravenberch in the 66th minute. Never really got into the game, which was running away from Liverpool.





Salah - took the place of Gakpo in the 74th minute. The first question that needs to be asked is why he did not come on earlier? It is clear that the issue between the two is affecting Slot's decisions and he does not want to use him if possible. Still, it could be worse, despite the team losing so badly, he refused to even bother using anyone else off the bench, even though it was clearly needed.

Liverpool Article 11 May 2026
Liverpool v Chelsea A Liverpool Perspective









It is pretty much the same thing over and over, except it is gradually getting worse as the weeks go by. Watching Liverpool play this season has been a chore and it is getting worse. Trying to find anything positive to say is most definitely a chore! There is just so little good about the team and the style of play, which is little short of horrifically bad. On the ball, the play is ridiculously slow and laboured, mainly consisting of slowly rolled balls around the defence. There is no desire to get the ball forward quickly, always allowing the opposition to get set into position to deal with the attack.



The lack of movement is incredible, nobody is looking to make runs in behind, instead mainly waiting for a ball in to feet. They move the ball so slowly it is painful to watch and fails to create spaces to work in or move the opposition around at all. As a result, creativity is virtually none and good chances are hard to come by. It is incredibly boring, tedious even to watch as the team usually dominates possession but does almost nothing with it.



Without the ball is just as bad. Sometimes there is an attempt to press, but it will only be with the attacking quartet, while the rest back off and leave a huge hole for the opposition to stroll through at will. It is not helped by the press being so half-hearted, no one actually closing anyone down properly. They stand off the player with the ball, giving him time and the space to pick a pass. All of that is while the midfield duo and defence drop back so deep as to leave plenty of space for passes, even poor passes, to easily find an opposition player under no pressure.



It does not even matter who is the goalkeeper behind them, Virgil is now so scared of having to actually break into a run, rather than strolling around aura farming, that he backs away constantly, just like he does when a player runs at him. And no one even bothers to track runners at all most of the time, so players are still able to get in behind easily, it is little wonder Liverpool have won the least tackles of any Premier League side this season.



Add that to Konate usually running around somewhere mindlessly just in front, covering no one and not even sure where anyone is 99% of the time, and two full-backs who look utterly confused by it all and you have a recipe for disaster. Especially as, other than Szoboszlai, no one really wants to put in any significant effort through the 90 minutes, allowing players to run past them at will and seemingly just hoping someone else will cover in behind them, even when there is no one to cover. The good thing is that it is fixable, the problem is that fixing it takes time on the training ground and that would interfere with Slot's trips home to the Netherlands and the players' weekday city breaks. All it would take is a daily walked drill, that can even be done on recovery days, to walk the players through their positioning.



That is the most frustrating thing watching this dross, that all it would take is a bit of effort and it could all be sorted. A bit more effort on drilling the players and a bit more work on their fitness, which is truly appalling for professional athletes being paid more money a week than most of those watching earn a year. Salah has been trying to tell us all this for months now. Slot should try listening to a top professional like him, rather than making snide digs at him in the media, but I firmly believe his ego cannot handle the criticism and accept that he is in any way culpable for the shambles that he is presiding over. One Dutch journalist did call it from the start, and I wish I could remember her name so I could give her credit, she said that Slot would be great while things are going well but his ego will not cope if it goes wrong.









Chelsea





The most telling thing about this game is not that this was the first time Chelsea covered more distance than their opponents or that this was the first time they avoided defeat in the Premier League in a long time. No, the most telling thing is that Chelsea were also that bad that they failed to get a win. They were so terrible as well that even a draw against them was enough to set the Anfield crowd to booing! They do have an excuse for their poor play though, after 6 Premier League losses in a row and being managed by an interim coach covering to see out the season. Them being so disorganised at the back can be put down to that and the fact that their defence has chopped and changed constantly, but their slow, lifeless, dull football seems to be the way they are choosing to play, rather than down to any of that.



A few things I did notice that stood out about them, aside from them being the better side overall, began from watching the warm up, which the coverage here showed extensive coverage of. I was particularly interested in watching that as it can often be a reflection of a player's overall attitude. Palmer was conspicuous in his lack of enthusiasm and effort in the warm up, on the shuttle runs he was always cheating and cutting off early, never running the full distance and was also looking very half-paced doing it. During the match he played the same way, rarely exerting himself and cheating when it came to tracking back. It would certainly fit with the rumours going round that he is still carrying an injury and nowhere near fully fit. Though it could also be indicative of an attitude issue, that he is not working hard enough in training and that he is simply just not at full fitness because of that. It is something that I would want to be monitoring carefully if I was working for the club.



The big weakness they have is Gusto down the right. Not just is he not good enough, but he lacks effort. His touch is poor, he is not good enough technically and weak defensively, added to being unwilling to put in the hard yards chasing back. His lack of effort is astonishing for a player that gets in the side so regularly despite a plethora of other options available. You do have to wonder what Acheampong is doing wrong to be overlooked for Gusto!







Liverpool





Mamardashvili - simply not good enough and it seemed strange to bring him back when Woodman seemed to be better suited to the team play. His kicking is horrendously bad.





Jones - I really do not get him. There are times when he shows real fight for the team, but then there are other moments when he just looks like he cannot be bothered. All within the same match. He is certainly not a right-back and did nothing to stop Cucurella having the freedom of the flank all game. Awful performance defensively, though he did have a couple of good moments on the ball. Not enough good touches to make up for his abysmal attempts to defend though.





Konate - I really do not know where to start with him, my notes are full of me just giving up on writing anything but 'Konate just f*** off' after yet another aberration from him. I have never had issues with my blood pressure, but him getting a completely undeserved new contract with Liverpool would, I am sure change that. He is absolutely shockingly bad. His attitude has stunk the place out for a long time, he is so laissez-faire about his job. He should have been replaced last summer. The fact it has got to this point in the season and he still has not got a deal anywhere else should tell the club that he needs to go. Please just go. Please.





van Dijk - once again the club captain shows all the leadership skills of Nero, playing his fiddle while all around him is burning down. He is still mainly dominant aerially, but he has lost the pace, and willingness to gamble on it, that made him the best around. Now he is tentative and unwilling to hold a line, constantly backing away and making any attempt for the team to press impossible. I understand that playing alongside Konate is not helping him, but he is just as responsible for the mess, but totally unwilling to accept any kind of blame for it.





Kerkez - it is clear that he has little to no real understanding built up with van Dijk. The whole backline plays like individuals thrown together, but these two are particularly at odds. Kerkez seems to mainly exist for van Dijk to blame for everything, particularly van Dijk's own failings. It is hard to judge him when his strengths are being completely underutilised. If you have a full-back that is so good flying forward, why on earth would you hold him back?





Szoboszlai - at times it was him v Chelsea. If only the rest of his team-mates put in even half as much effort.





Mac Allister - the usual abysmal performance from him apart from a short spell of about 5 minutes in total when he woke up and actually made an effort. Unfortunately, he soon returned to normal. It did show what he could do, if he could be bothered.





Gravenberch - yes he scored a good goal, but that was pretty much his entire contribution. Even that you have to question the keeper, who probably should have done a lot better. However, to come out whining about the boos after the game was just a glimpse into how far removed from reality he is, which probably explains why he thinks he should get forward more rather than protecting the defence. If you want to know what you deserve Ryan, I can tell you it is not the bit pay rise you got this season with your ridiculous unwarranted new contract.





Ngumoha - it is hard to judge him, he does not do enough work off the ball but that might simply be under instruction to stay higher as the out ball or because he is felt to be too lightweight to be effective defensively. Add to that, when the ball is played to him the rest of the team seem to just mainly stop and watch him, rather than giving him movement and options.





Frimpong - Slot clearly learnt nothing from playing him there last time out. He is not a right winger and offers little there of value.





Gakpo - barely even saw the ball, let alone touched it. The tactics are so horrendously bad that he got no service but as it is him, he will get the blame for it all. Yes, he was utterly anonymous, but that was on the rest of the team for not even seeming to try and get the ball to him.





Isak - replaced Ngumoha in the 67th minute. I kept having to check I was not sat on the remote control every time he was on the screen. I was worried I had accidentally pressed the slow motion button as he was moving like he was underwater. He is nowhere near fit enough to be on the pitch, that much is clear. There has yet to be a moment this season when he has been anywhere full fitness and that is a worry. It is one thing to say he missed pre-season training, but that does not mean he should come in to the squad quite so unfit. Could you imagine Salah ever returning that unfit? Even if he was unable to train with a team with a year, let alone a couple of months, there is no way he would let his fitness drop to the levels Isak did. His lack of professionalism is concerning for a player that cost over 100m!





Gomez - was brought on in the stead of Konate in the 77th minute. It is such a shame he cannot stay fit.





Chiesa - took the place of Gakpo in the 77th minute. Slot has absolutely no idea how to use Chiesa at all. I have no idea whether or not he is good enough to be a regular at Liverpool, I do feel he is almost certainly not though, but he has shown enough to deserve more time on the pitch than he gets under Slot. It is literally a desperation substitution that he turns to when time is running out.

Liverpool Article 07 May 2026
Manchester United v Liverpool A Liverpool Perspective







An absolute disgrace of a performance, which cannot be excused by the injuries as it was the lack of effort and desire that was particularly galling. The tactics are the same abomination Slot has used most of the season, the lack of fitness is never going to change because the players have too many days off to actually work and build their stamina. What annoys me more is the attempt to try and defend all the days off. Elite athletes become elite through hard work, not through holidays.



There is not much else to say about this game, it was the usual dross, the usual lack of fitness and once again a result far better than the performance deserved, even though it was a defeat. It is just crazy that it has been allowed to continue on so long.









Manchester United





They were very good in the first half, in which they should have built a much bigger lead. They could have easily put the game out of reach of Liverpool in the first 45 minutes. They broke through Liverpool's defence with ease. The second half saw them get sloppy and helped Liverpool draw back level, and for a few minutes they were rocking. They were given respite and took advantage of it to get a winner and stroll to a win by a score that really does not reflect just how much better they were than Liverpool. It is very hard to tell just how good they were, in all honesty, simply because of how terrible Liverpool were.







Liverpool





Woodman - cannot blame him for any of the goals, for a third choice he is doing well, but he is very much a third choice.





Jones - I fail to understand why he continues at right-back, even though the player signed to be right-back was fit. For all he has done a decent enough job, he does struggle on the defensive side of the game and has a tendency to dawdle on the ball in dangerous areas. It was never a solution and really should not have needed to be tried anyway, but Slot is determined to avoid giving an actual right-back in Ramsay the slightest chance.





Konate - lucky to get away with the brainless shove on Sesko into the advertising hoardings. It was needless, there was no danger and he could have turned it into a dangerous situation with his idiocy. And that is the best thing I can say about his game. He was utterly abysmal and anyone stupid enough at Liverpool to think giving this idiot a new contract is a good idea should be sacked immediately. Watching him wander round aimlessly is making me angrier every week. He is making me miss the days of Phil Babb in defence, he really is that bad.





van Dijk - dreadful game. His shortcomings as a captain and player are being badly exposed this season.





Robertson - a game too far. He was poor, looking his age.





Szoboszlai - the only Liverpool player to have anything like a good game. He had a couple of good runs forward, one of which ended with him bringing it back to 2-1.





Mac Allister - another in a long line of abysmal, anonymous performances.





Gravenberch - last season he was excellent as a deep lying midfielder protecting the defence. Giving him more freedom to get forward has just seen him turn back into the lacklustre midfielder he was before then. His passing is abysmal in offensive areas, it is clear he should just sit back but somehow no one in the coaching staff has realised it.





Wirtz - he has not reached the level that was hoped for, but the lack of movement around him to be picked out is hampering him badly. He still should be doing more to take the game by the scruff of the neck though and make things happen.





Frimpong - not a winger and it showed. He needs to be making overlapping runs, not being the main threat as he lacks the skill to dribble past players. He is far too weak and so far his only real attribute has been pace, which he struggles to use to any kind of effect with such a high starting position.





Gakpo - an improved performance by him, though his bar has been set very low this season.





Kerkez - replaced Robertson in the 59th minute. Worked hard but the team had reverted to slow passing around at the back which left most of his effort wasted.





Ngumoha - was brought on in the stead of Frimpong in the 75th minute. Waved his foot about a lot but achieved very little. There is a lot of potential there, but he needs time to develop.





Chiesa - took the place of Konate in the 87th minute. As usual brought on in the dying seconds out of desperation by Slot, this time there was little he could do.

Liverpool Article 28 Apr 2026
Liverpool v Crystal Palace A Liverpool Perspective







It seems to be a standard now, Liverpool play poorly and specialise in slow, tedious, rolled balls around the back, but sometimes get a result despite the poor performance. This was one of those good results despite playing poorly. The goals being just about all that was good, in terms of play, coming from quick attacks, rather than slow play. The counters were excellent, but the actual overall play was sloppy, particularly early on when a number of unnecessary corners were given away.



The first 25 minutes or so were particularly bad, with Wirtz, Isak, Salah and Gakpo barely seeing the ball as Mac Allister dropped between the centre-backs and the ball was rolled slowly between the three of them. There can be no complaint about the penalty awarded being overturned by VAR, it was clearly not a penalty and it was, for once, a good thing VAR was there to help out the referee there.



It took nearly half an hour before Palace were put under any pressure, none of that was from a press though, as that was woeful, disorganised even, with huge gaping holes in it as players stood too far off and lacked aggression. It is worrying that nothing was created in normal play, there is absolutely no creativity which is fine against a dreadful Palace side, who looked like they were on the beach, but the final four games are against teams with something to play for.



Even more concerning was the way Palace were able to stroll through the midfield at ease, there was absolutely no protection from midfield. The only thing worse was the reaction to Woodman going down injured. It was absolute amateur hour, everyone just stood and watched as Munoz waited and then put it into the empty net. There was absolutely no reason for the referee to stop the game and it was shocking to watch players as experienced as the Liverpool defence to just stand and watch. No one tried to close him down, no tried to cover the goal line. They all just stood around like spare pricks at a wedding. Embarrassing.







Crystal Palace





Palace were incredibly poor, offering very little threat and never looked like they were even giving their all to get it back to level scores. They had come out with a gameplan to spoil and time waste, once they conceded they looked lost as to what to do. They were not helped by Glasner, who made the strange decision to take off Mitchell at half-time, despite him giving Jones real trouble at times. He was pretty much their only threat, as you cannot count Johnson, who is so weak and pathetic, just looking to dive and pretend to have injuries. Palace have such a good record at Anfield that is was surprising they did not go for it, especially as they have little to lose being safe in midtable.





Liverpool





Woodman - he had a game he will never forget, with some good saves and having the entire Kop sing his name. He did not look good on crosses though.





Jones - didn't deal with Mitchell getting forward well at all. Awful play to give the ball away and nearly gifting Palace a goal in the first half. He did also do a lot of good things, including picking up an assist. Looked a lot more comfortable in the second half without Mitchell bombing forward.





Konate - has no awareness at all. Darwin Nunez used to get called 'Captain Chaos' but I think that nomenclature is more suited to Konate. All I can say is that I hope no one in the academy is watching him play and learning from him!





van Dijk - sloppy corner giveaway towards the end after Strand Larsen hit the posts but otherwise he had a good game.





Robertson - beautifully placed finish on the break for the second, from a Palace corner.





Szoboszlai - not his best game, but he is always a willing worker, at one point chasing across after his poorly taken free kick results in a break and puts a stop to it. That is something that is often missing in this team, there is not enough ability to break up the opponents' play.





Mac Allister - he did get two assists, but he was completely anonymous the rest of the game. One of them was a weak shot going wide that Isak was quick to stop before it went out. Is that enough to be a good game? I am not sure. He did drop between the two centre-backs when the team had the ball, allowing them to split and the full-backs get forward, but it is a worrying choice to play there as he is not a capable defensive operator.





Gakpo - I am not in the Gakpo is awful and must go camp, but I can see why he annoys some people so much. He did well, to a degree, winning a number of aerial duels, but he rarely spots the easy overlapping pass, which is frustrating to see when he cuts inside and the ball ends up going backwards instead.





Wirtz - had a good game, showing flashes of what he can do, including an excellent finish for his goal, but there is still a lot more to come.





Isak - scored the opening goal, a decent touch to kill it from a terrible Mac Allister strike. Weak hit but smashed into the ground and looped over the keeper, he hadn't been in the game before it. It was quick thinking but about all he did in the match, as the ball barely went in his direction.





Salah - looked to be refinding his form and will be gutted to have gone off injured as it looks almost certain to have brought his Liverpool career to an early end.





Frimpong - replaced the injured Salah in 59th minute. Struggled to get into the game.





Gravenberch - was brought on in the stead of Isak in the 79th minute. Shocking decision, which shows Slot's thinking and desire to just try and defend a lead. It left the midfield and attack disorganised for a while, as they sorted out who was meant to play where.





Gomez - took the place of Jones in the 87th minute. Immediately solidified things on that flank, though Jones had dealt well with Sosa, he did let the ball get to him far too easily. Gomez was much more defensively aggressive.





Kerkez - took over from Robertson in the 87th minute. Made a bad error when caught sleeping in the box. Needs to be more alert.