liverpool in free fall after city and forest embarrassments
the hit
“This Damn Song,” Pecos & The Rooftops (2023)
11/8 | premier league | manchester city 3, liverpool 0
11/22 | premier league | liverpool 0, nottingham forest 3
The sad thing is — well, there are lots of sad things.
One of the many sad things is I had already written a few paragraphs about the City game, detailing how I wished we’d played it after the international break so we could hold onto the momentum from the Villa and Madrid wins, and how even though we suffered from some bad luck and two farcical refereeing decisions, we didn’t deserve anything from the game.
As I’m sure was the case for a ton of Liverpool fans after another incredibly frustrating loss, I used the international break as a chance to tune out from the state of the team for a while. I didn’t want to read or listen to more angry diatribes about big summer fees or overreactions to Slot’s decision making. And after a week or so off, as I hoped, I was excited to watch my favorite team again in the lead up to the Nottingham Forest game. Naively, even though playing teams down the table hasn’t helped our form so far this season, I expected us to handle Dyche’s side at home and regain some positive vibes. I expected to follow up some sad paragraphs about City with some happy paragraphs about the Forest game.
Instead, after we witnessed a capitulation that makes any sort of analysis feel pointless, I highlighted everything and hit delete.
You could cite our struggles to bed in the newcomers, the absentees at right back, or the disappearance of Mo Salah (although I actually thought he was our best player against Forest). But these problems pale in comparison to the most obvious one, the only one that’s really worth talking about at this point: we’re mentally fragile.
We’ve played 19 games this season. In each of those games except two — the Community Shield and our 1-5 win at Eintracht Frankfurt — the team that scored first went on to win. It’s like Heath Ledger said in the Joker makeup and the nurse outfit. We’re fine as long as things go according to plan. When they don’t, well then everyone loses their minds!
A lot has been made of Robbo’s interview after Scotland qualified for the World Cup. I’m glad we got a reminder of just how much Diogo is still on the minds of our players and staff — we need to know so that we can support them in the best possible way. If Diogo’s passing is contributing to this brutal run of performances, it’s not an excuse. Two things can be true at the same time.
The team needs us to support them through this time.
The team hasn’t been anywhere near good enough, and they need to raise their level.
It’s a low point. This group needs to figure out how to cope with adversity on the pitch. We’re allowed to be upset about the product in front of our eyes — I don’t blame the fans who left Anfield early when it went 0-3 and it was clear we had given up. But let’s regroup and support the team with the understanding that this season is being played under special circumstances. That’s not discrediting our opponents, or waving away all the specific football-related issues that are plaguing this team. It’s not giving our guys a pass, or saying this season doesn’t count. There won’t be any asterisks for us. All the more reason to stand behind these guys as they try to pick themselves back up.