Wednesday night’s performance against Galatasaray was a mirage. Against a brighter, fitter, more determined Brighton, Arne Slot’s Liverpool were shown up for what they are: soft, mentally weak, with bluffers parading around in a red shirt. Easily beaten 2-1 on the south coast, this Liverpool team are going nowhere.
Having fallen behind following a calamity of errors involving both Konate and Gio Mamardashvili, Liverpool never really recovered. Welbeck scored with a simple header at the back post following first a throw-in, then a cross, then a back-post header across the penalty area that Liverpool barely contested. This occurred despite Kerkez, one of the few who never shirks a physical battle, dragging his side back into the game. A long punt upfield was latched upon by the Hungarian as Brighton’s players vacated the penalty box.
For reasons that perhaps even Arne Slot doesn’t understand, Cody Gakpo, consistently weak in possession and of little use off the ball, started yet again. Hugo Ekitike, meanwhile, trooped off inside ten minutes as one-time Liverpool stalwart James Milner demonstrated the sort of physicality in colliding with the French striker that this present team sorely lack.
Almost to a man, those in red are devoid of grit, determination, or an ability to be strong in possession or in the tackle. They’re both mentally and physically brittle, turning up at games as though entirely surprised that the opposition might put a challenge in. Equally as detrimental to their weekly displays is that they so often take too many touches, cannot seemingly play a forward defence-splitting pass, and when presented with the opportunity to shoot, pass the ball on to a player who is invariably immediately closed down.
What was true of the first half was, if anything, accelerated in the second forty-five minutes. Welbeck again put his side in front after being given the freedom of the penalty box to finish off a move. Not for the first or last time, Liverpool players resembled mannequins as their opponents showed them the all-too-obvious need to be quicker in thought and deed.
In a desperate attempt to rescue yet another abject display, Slot gave both Rio and Chiesa some minutes, Curtis Jones having already been introduced, but it was to no avail. If anything, Brighton looked the more likely scorers, and deservedly so.
So what did we, the supporters, and Slot learn from this week? Surely that, if confirmation was really needed, this Liverpool team contains bluffers: players with neither the mental nor physical fortitude to carry the club forward.
One point from nine when up against Wolves, Spurs, and Brighton is surely proof positive of that. What’s more, unless Liverpool are able to rouse themselves beyond their present malaise and somehow win a seventh European Cup, it’s unlikely they’ll be playing Champions League football next season. In all likelihood, they’ll also be looking for a new manager.
