Liverpool v Chelsea - A Not So Quick Liverpool Perspective

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.

Written by Tris Burke May 11 2026 19:45:44