Liverpool have been trending in the wrong direction for well more than a calendar year now. Their press has become less ineffective, passing and patterns of play have regressed, chance creation and defensive structure has been concerning, and even basics like fitness and the stamina to run for 90 minutes appear gone.
Meanwhile, the club hierarchy, including a pair of sporting directors in Ricahrd Hughes and Michael Edwards who oversaw a massive transfer spend last summer only to make the squad less
competitive, less cohesive, less combative, and lacking in depth, continue to insist Arne Slot is the coach to lead this group forward.
Anfield, feeling as though those concerning trends are being ignored, has begun to grow increasingly toxic in recent weeks. And that was before Chelsea agreed a deal to appoint ex-Red Xabi Alonso as manager and departing superstar Mohamed Salah unloaded his frustrations over the club’s “crumbling” standards.
Now, another ex-Red and Liverpool legend has waded in, with former captain Steven Gerrard speaking on TNT following Saturday’s FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester City, shortly after news broke about both Alonso joining the Blues and Salah going public about his unhappiness about club direction.
“The pressure is on the players and on the manager because it hasn’t been near good enough,” Gerrard said when asked if Salah’s comments will make the situation more difficult. “The performance [against Aston Villa] was terrible, it was awful. It was difficult to watch from start to finish. It hurt me watching Liverpool.
“It was a difficult 90 minutes and they got what they deserved. Villa were better all over the pitch—there was no heart, no desire, no fight, no passion, no patterns of play, no connection. They’re not moving around the pitch together, individuals are miles off how we know they can perform. It hurt me to watch Liverpool.”
As for Salah’s comments about declining standards and his statement there are certain expectations for those representing the club that “cannot be negotiable and everyone that joins this club should adapt to,” Gerrard noted Salah would only come out and say as much if he was genuinely hurt by what he was seeing.
“I think he’s sending a message to the outside that things in that Liverpool dressing room are not right,” Gerrard said. “The identity’s gone, and it’s hurting him to see it. I’m surprised at the timing with one game to go—his last game for Liverpool. But that is quite damning for the Liverpool manager and where this team’s at.”
