A Season to Forget

The 25/26 season was the complete opposite of what Liverpool fans, and football fans in general, expected it to be. After the Reds secured their historic 20th league title, the expectations were sky-high, especially when they went on to spend nearly half a billion pounds. It was a staggering sum of money, yes, but at the time, it looked like a clinical investment in elite-level talent.

Liverpool managed to break the English transfer-fee record twice in a single window by signing two of the best players in the world: Alexander Isak, the Swedish forward, for around £145 million, and Florian Wirtz, the German starboy, for around £116 million. To build for the future, the arrivals also included Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, and Giovanni Leoni. On paper, it looked like a cheat code. Crucially, this massive club spend—especially on heavy-hitting attackers like Isak and Wirtz—was less about short-term hype and more of a direct preparation for what comes after Mohamed Salah’s tenure for Liverpool in terms of overall productivity. The hierarchy knew they needed to replace irreplaceable numbers.

However, that aggressive transfer window also resulted in a brutal clearing out of the old guard. Many described that summer as a major squad revamp, and we now know exactly why it was so drastic: Arne Slot wanted to fully implement his own distinct ideas and tactics. In his first season in charge, the club famously only signed Federico Chiesa, which meant Slot was essentially working with Jurgen Klopp’s team for an entire year. This window was his opportunity to finally break away from the past, but it resulted in the departures of several key players from the title-winning side. Losing Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Harvey Elliott, Kostas Tsimikas, Jarell Quansah, and Caoimhin Kelleher all at once didn’t just rip out the squad’s depth; it tore away its core identity.

Compounding that massive structural turnover was a profound tragedy that shook the entire club to its core—the heartbreaking passing of Diogo Jota in July. Losing him didn’t just create an immense tactical and clinical void on the pitch; it left the team and the fanbase carrying an incredibly heavy emotional weight before a single competitive ball was even kicked. Between the mass departures and dealing with such a devastating real-life loss, it felt less like a standard rebuild and more like open-heart surgery on a winning team.

Despite this massive overhaul and emotional trauma, Liverpool actually started the season well in terms of raw results, even if the actual performances were deeply concerning. They won their first five matches on the bounce, including a massive victory against a direct rival in Arsenal. But while Liverpool secured all three points in each of those five games, the performances were a glaring warning sign for both the fans and the team. There was no cohesive system; nearly all of those wins came from moments of individual brilliance or desperate, last-minute winners papering over the cracks.

Inevitably, Liverpool’s run of fortunate victories came to an end away at Crystal Palace, where they lost 2-1. Shockingly, this was already the second time they had been outsmarted by Oliver Glasner’s side, having already lost to them in the Community Shield. That defeat broke the team’s fragile confidence, and Liverpool went on to lose four consecutive matches in a devastating slump: three in the league against Crystal Palace, Chelsea, and Manchester United, and a demoralizing night in the Champions League against Galatasaray.

There was a brief moment of relief when Liverpool managed to beat Frankfurt in the Champions League, but the tactical flaws remained unaddressed, and they soon returned to losing ways—falling to Brentford in the league and suffering another embarrassing defeat to Crystal Palace, this time knocking them out of the League Cup.

From there, Liverpool were faced with a brutal run of fixtures. Against the odds, they managed to beat Aston Villa in the league and put on a show to defeat Real Madrid in the Champions League. After those two massive results, the fanbase understandably began to build some momentum and hope. But that fragile optimism was completely crushed in the weeks that followed by a 3-0 humbling against Manchester City, a shocking 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest, and a heavy 4-1 home loss to PSV that exposed just how far the defensive structure had collapsed.

At that point, the general feeling across the fanbase was that a managerial change had become completely necessary. Even after that low point, the manager and certain sections of the media like to point out that Liverpool went on a “13 matches unbeaten” run to steady the ship. But when you look closely at that run, the stats completely lie. It included six frustrating draws, four of them coming against newly promoted teams where Liverpool looked completely devoid of ideas. It also featured a very shaky, unconvincing win against a nine-man Spurs side, another scrappy, stressful home win against Wolves, and a victory over League One side Barnsley. It wasn’t a recovery; it was just survival.

Fast-forward to where we are today, and instead of defending a crown, Liverpool are fighting tooth and nail just for a Champions League spot, with Bournemouth and Brighton among their direct competition for fifth place. Liverpool could easily have secured fourth, and perhaps even finished third with breathing room, had they managed to beat Manchester United. Instead, they failed to step up and took their fate all the way into the final gameweek of the season.

Liverpool clearly have deep structural problems from top to bottom, but the most critical one right now is the head coach. To not be completely harsh on Arne Slot, it is only fair to acknowledge that he did have to contend with a relentless wave of injuries in his squad that constantly disrupted any hope of tactical consistency. However, even when factoring in that bad medical luck, the absolute tactical regression and the inability to properly integrate a half-billion pounds of healthy talent speaks for itself. A change is desperately needed before the 26/27 pre-season begins; otherwise, the club risks writing off another entire season before a ball is even kicked.