Football News: Where is it all going wrong with Liverpool FC?

This will be an attempt to go through Liverpools current problems, position by position, and offer potential solutions. I'm not an expert, just a fan who likes waffling a bit too much. Nevertheless, we begin.

Goalkeeper:

Actually very strong in this position, but the difference in calibre between Alisson and anyone else is enormous. Alisson saves that Mbeumo chance in my opinion, and he's one of the few keepers who would 9 times out of 10. His injury record is insane for a keeper though, and it has been a feature of his time with us. Not much to change really as what keeper in the world offers anything as good as Alisson?

Solution: massage Alison's legs more? Or find the next Alisson from somewhere?

Defence (centre back) :

Where to begin? I mean let's be charitable firstly and say the midfield offer very little protection. It means they need to be on it from minute 1. Van Dijk isn't quite at his imperious best, but he's still the dominant voice, and dominant player. Konate is even worse than last season, in which he was one of our poorest performers, and seems incapable of making correct decisions on any sort of consistent basis. All he offers is physicality, and he barely uses that to proper effect. He isn't focused enough, and he allegedly wants out.

Solution: I would drop Konate indefinitely, make Gomez the first choice centre-back irrespective of his fitness and form, allow him to play himself into form, and cross your fingers he doesn't pick up an injury. And if Gomez's body doesn't hold up, sign a centre-back in January. I am sick to the back teeth of Konate's half-assed performances.

Defence (fullbacks) :

This is a combination of poor player performances, and square pegs into round holes. Bradley is decent defensively, but can be a bit careless. Kerkez is brain dead defensively, relies on his pace to bail him out, and is awful at defending crosses. Attacking wise both are very capable, both have pace, both can beat a man, presumably both can cross a ball. They both invariably invert when getting forward, and that nullifies their ability. Neither are Trent, neither have the passing range, vision, shot technique he has. That is fine, Robertson is the same, so why insist on them inverting. Kerkez also looks like the sort of player who makes a bad decision as soon as you give him enough time to, his passing has also been atrocious.

Solution: have both fullbacks overlapping. It will create space for Gakpo and Salah, create more space in the middle, and play to the strengths of the players. Szobo, Macca, Grav, Wirtz, etc are all much better passers, so let them do that. Would also drop Kerkez until he learns how to make a 10 yard pass to a players feet, that level of incompetence isn't good enough.

Midfield:

We are asking Macallister to move wide, then try and cover the center. Our most immobile midfielder, who also looks to be our least fit. We are seemingly asking Gravenberch to do everything, and Szobo to like drift around until we move him to right back. The cohesion isn't there, and the tactics are really exacerbating that. Jones made a difference yesterday because he ran with the ball, because there was space to run into (due to playing a 4-2-4, which I wouldn't suggest as a long term solution), and because he had his head up in the final third. Writs similarly took up numerous excellent positions, only due his teammates to either not see him, or ignore him for personal glory.

Solution: drop Mac Allister, he is not playing anywhere near well enough. Change the shape of midfield with two sitting deep, one slightly ahead, and at least provide some resistance. Our defence looks so overwhelmed and leaky because the midfield is nonexistent. Stop the midfielders leaving huge gaps in the middle. Think about bring Bajcetic back into the fold if he is mentally ready for it (not if he's still late to training and arseing about) . Think about having Endo as one of the midfielders, if only to provide cover for the defence.

Attack (forwards) :

They are missing chances, that's fine, but they're not working hard enough without the ball, and they're not making enough of an impact. Isak is clearly miles off the pace, so drop him until he isn't. Ekitike is in a bit of form, play him. Chiesa is in form, play him.

Solution: play the fit, in form players at your disposal.

Forwards (wingers) :

Salah can barely control a football or play a pass at the moment, he breaks down so many of our attacks, never tracks back, has lost a bit of pace, and is offering us nothing. In his defence Salah has played as an inverted winger since the Bobby Firmino days, so getting him now to be a more traditional winger seems odd. Gakpo is scoring, but he is so predictable because he will cut inside every time. If he's going to do this Kerkez has to overlap otherwise he will have no space to operate in. Rio and Frimpong offer genuine, terrifying pace, they are worth using. We lack pace in our wingers, yet don't allow our fullbacks to compensate for it.

Solution: drop Salah, play Frimpong. Rotate Gakpo with Rio. Alternatively, invert the wingers, and encourage the fullbacks to overlap at every opportunity. We don't have a Bobby type player (except Wirtz), and Isak almost certainly starts before him in that position, so a way of creating more chances in the box has to be found.

Tactics:

Probably our biggest issue. It's like a mish-mash of different things which, by themselves, or with the right player, could work, but which are completely ill-suited to our situation. Fullbacks are still inverting but we do not have Trent. His delivery and vision is the only way that makes sense, so why persist? We are playing players out of form and fitness, why? Play in form players, who suit a cohesive system. Playing wingers asked to stay out wide who a) don't track back, and b) lack the pace to get in behind, makes no sense.

They are falling short because they're better in the 18 yard box than out if it, but being asked to hug the touch line. If they hug the touch line then they need to track back when the fullbacks invert, because if the midfield covers instead it becomes empty in, and easy to play through, the middle. We need to decide whether we're an attacking team, or a defensive team - right now we're neither and as a result not scoring much, and conceding frequently.

Either he brave, and accept conceding a few more, or tighten up and accept scoring a few less - were doing neither at the moment and instead are winning the possession award, but sod all else. I didn't like the possession tactic when Klopp switched over to it, I still don't like it.

Individuality:

Kerkez needs a lesson in basic passing. Ekitike, Salah, etc need a lesson in passing to a player in a better position. Konate needs a lesson in actually putting in effort and focusing. Bradley needs a lesson in using his brain before making a decision. There is so much lethargy in the team, playing for the badge, a bit of passion, sometimes that goes a long way too.

Sorry this is so long, this whole season it has felt like the team is walking a tightrope, and now their luck has run out they are falling and falling badly. 4 losses on the trot, and not one game you can say we were comfortable in, or that we were fully dominant in and deserving of a win. Alarm bells are ringing.

Written by Seano_ October 22 2025 10:44:42