As we all know, Liverpool are currently in the midst of a slump of biblical proportions. Knocked out of 2 competitions in the same week, not a single win in the league throughout January and only 1 win in 10 games, with that one win coming from a fairly feeble performance against Plymouth Argyle. The finger has been pointed in various directions when the question of who’s to blame is posed, so lets try and work it out.
The first figure in the finger pointing firing line, as it would be at any club – the manager. There’s no denying that there has been some unusual choices made over the last month. A quick glance at the team sheet before the abysmal loss to Hull left me wondering what Wijnaldum has done to deserve to be on the bench, particularly following his standout performance against the league leaders less than a week prior. His replacement, Emre Can, has certainly not been firing on all cylinders in what may be an aftermath of reported contract disagreements, however in reality, I feel he just may not be good enough. Then there is the poor team selections in the cup competitions. Having been at the Wolves game, it was clear to see that the first 11 had absolutely no hope of gelling together. It was a mess, it was all over the place and the outcome was predictable. Unusual team selections and a severe lack of a plan B has cost us dearly on several occasions.
The next obvious factor in regards to unusual decisions – the lack of transfers. It’s not as if all Liverpool fans weren’t aware that Sadio Mané would be kicking a football around in Gabon for a month. It’s not as if all Liverpool fans weren’t aware of how little width our team has without him. It’s not as if all Liverpool Fans weren’t aware of how calamitous our first choice goalkeeper is and its certainly not as if Liverpool fans aren’t aware of our comedic defensive displays – But is Klopp aware? How could he not be? So why has it not changed?
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Klopp has stated that he wanted to bring several players in, but the clubs wont sell, this may be true but lets be real here, for the right price you can get your man, but this money isn’t coming from Klopps wallet, so that brings us onto FSG.
It’s been a love/hate relationship with FSG since they took over from Hicks and Gillett. You can see why so many fans shift their blame towards the higher management of the club. Over the last decade, it has become clear that money wins trophies – think City & Chelsea (put Leicester to one side, as that was the anomaly to end all anomalies.) Meanwhile however, FSG are considered to be a stingy bunch, in it for the dosh and the results come second. It’s easy to see why people think that, particularly when Liverpool’s net-spend in the Summer of 2016 was -£9.2m compared to City’s eye-popping £163m or United’s £136m. But it’s not as if FSG haven’t provided the funds to bring in new players in the past, look at Sadio Mané, Adam Lallana and dare I say it, Andy Carroll and Christian Benteke. So is the issue now that FSG are only willing to spend up to £40m on players rather than £60/70m? Seems unreasonable to blame them for that if you ask me but I certainly don’t think FSG are the perfect owners for Liverpool.
One other often mentioned root of Liverpool’s problems – the players themselves. It seems Liverpool can’t go a loss without the ‘they don’t get what it means to play for Liverpool’ brigade step up their twitter game. This may be true, but it seems unlikely. I don’t doubt the attitude of our current squad; Jürgen Klopp would have you thrown in the Melwood bins if he even had a sniff of a bad attitude, as we know with Sakho. Where was the bad attitude brigade when we beat Everton in the last minute or even the draw against Chelsea earlier this week? Attitude isn’t a problem.
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Having discussed the internal issues, I think its time to evaluate ourselves. As a fanbase, it is our duty to get behind the team no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in. On several occasions, like so many others, I’ve been guilty of briefly turning my back on the club… ‘I’m not watching this s**** anymore’. Many have felt the same, which is fine, but let it blow over, and once the frustration of the last poor result dies down, look towards future and get behind the team. Yes – Klopp may be to blame sometimes. Yes – FSG may be to blame sometimes. Yes – the players may be to blame sometimes, but see it through, it will be fixed. With Jürgen at the helm, we will build something at this club; obstacles are inevitable but the message is clear from Jürgen – remain positive.
I think its safe to say that I’m still unsure about who to blame for the problems at Liverpool but one thing I am sure about it is this – we are lucky at the minute. Jürgen Klopp isn’t going to be the Liverpool manager forever, do yourself a favour and enjoy it while it lasts, even while things aren’t so good.
Written by Sam Halliwell
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