How Liverpool’s makeover is backfiring badly

Sometimes Liverpool can be as surprising as they are exciting.

There’s a natural conflict between a club and its fanbase that suggests patience may be necessary after so much change, and the reality of the restlessness that demands it all sets in immediately. Considering the pattern of recent defeats, the sense of urgency undoubtedly has a negative impact on players’ playing intelligence.

Immediately after Cody Gakpo’s equalizing goal in the 78th minute, Dominik Szoboszlai was in such a hurry to launch another attack that he fired a 35-yard throw-in at his goalkeeper. Giorgi Mamardashvili broke into the penalty area, United regained possession and won the corner, giving Harry Maguire the win.

The brain freeze, amid United’s desire to make a fresh push towards its goal, summed up the general turmoil that seems to have engulfed Anfield since the opening day of the season.

From the moment they were beaten by Bryan Mbeomo in the second minute on Sunday, Liverpool played as if they had to stay in fifth gear.

There was the same panic in the stands, especially when the ever-nervous Milos Kerkez and Ibrahima Konate took possession of the ball. This gave the impression that the team was haphazard, unbalanced, too hasty in gaining possession and too anxious when chances came their way.

Liverpool, of course, created plenty, which will make the harshest assessments of this defeat sound more emotional than logical.

Those who frame this as a leap forward will correctly argue that a similar performance with greater composure and confidence would have resulted in the Slot team scoring six goals.

But the fact that each match follows the same trend suggests that the problem goes beyond Alexander Isak trying to wear his new jersey or Mohamed Salah’s faulty radar.

The longer this goes on, the more the debate grows about whether Liverpool chose to change too much, too soon.

When Slot expertly transformed Jürgen Klopp’s draft to lead the club to the title, the areas for improvement to retain the crown appeared more minor than radical.

Few watched Liverpool and felt they lacked attacking threat, or clamored for a midfield revamp or a virtuoso number 10. The side’s consistency generally appeared close to perfect; the hope that a few outstanding and young similar players could herald the beginning of a dynasty.

Ironically, you could be forgiven for believing that it was Slot who was least impressed by his work. Even before Liverpool’s coronation, he was talking about the congestion of games and the general feeling that his side were not cool enough to dominate.

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His team won 25 games to win the league, yet defeats against Newcastle United at Wembley and PSG in the Champions League appeared to have the deepest impact on which side Slot wanted to be on next.

From the opening league game against Bournemouth, Slot looked like they wanted to take a step towards a completely new, ambitious formation rather than taking baby steps.

If Slot’s vision and the club’s £450 million (A$928 million) transfer gamble pays off, with goals from Isak and assists from Florian Wirtz, this miserable run will be postponed.

The worry for Liverpool is that by the time the signings are made and balance in the squad is restored, the leaders may have already faded away.

Telegraph, London

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