By Steven Northover
As we enter the final week of the 2025/26 Premier League season, barring a record-breaking collapse from the Reds - or an equally unlikely result for Bournemouth against Nottingham Forest - Champions League football will be returning to Anfield next season.
Just...
The fact that it has taken the (former) league champions until the very last game of the season, and almost certainly on goal difference, to achieve the bare minimum for a club the size of Liverpool, is a damning indictment of how far they have fallen in the space of 38 games.
Where Has It Gone Wrong?
Credit: Tribuna.com
Let's start with the simple truth - Liverpool don't score as much as they did last season. As it stands, the Reds are heading for their worst goals return since the Premier League's inception. There are several reasons for this, injuries to Alexander Isak and then to Hugo Ekitike, the ‘’drop off' of Mohammed Salah, and lest we forget the loss of Diogo Jota - have all combined to create a noticeable blunting of a forward line that was the fear of Europe only a couple of seasons ago.
But the problems are not just up front, a defence that was once able to keep Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Manchester City at bay, are now shipping three goals against a relegation threatened Notting Forrest.
Arne Slot - His Way, No Way
Credit: Football365
Arne Slot did the impossible in his first season - improve on Jürgen Klopp's side.
I personally believe that people's memory of just how good the 24/25 Liverpool side was - brimming with talent, with a Mohammed Salah at the very peak of his powers, it was a Liverpool side that could (and should) be written about as a team for the ages. But it's not, and it won't.
For whatever reason, this season Slot appears to have lost touch with his best players, and in turn, the fans. Comments made on Social Media, notably by Salah, have painted a picture of the dressing room growing increasingly uneasy with Liverpool's direction and performances have borne that out.
Liverpool seems… slower than they have in recent years - often comfortable to sit on a lead, when there is one, rather than push to extend it. The most flaring example of that is the recent 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Anfield. After dominating, and scoring early, Liverpool slowly allowed Chelsea back into the game, with Chelsea left back Marc Cucurella allowed to roam freely on the wing, and Enzo Fernandez equalising around twenty minutes later. On another day, and against a team with a much more clinical opponent, the result may have been more damaging for the Champions.
What makes it worse is that this wasn't a one-off result. Almost routinely, Liverpool have played in a similar way: against Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton and Manchester United, have ended with Liverpool being slower to react to the opposition scoring, and are becoming more dominant.
Even in matches where Liverpool went on to win, specifically against Everton, it often took late, or lucky, goals to get a result. A theme which made itself present even during the early stages of the season which took The Reds to a 5 point gap at the top of the league after just 5 matches.
Lessons To Learn
Credit: The Sporting News
But…. Liverpool should be in the Champions League next season.
Despite the Reds' failings, and there are a multitude, this season, Liverpool has just about managed to reach the bare minimum. However, if Liverpool don't face up to the failings of this season - from the manager, to the drop in performances, to a haphazard transfer strategy last summer - then qualification will do nothing but paper over the cracks. Indeed, Liverpool have been able to take advantage of the metaphorical and physical gap between the ‘’Top 4’ (arguably Top 6 this season) and the rest of the league to mitigate the damage that such a poor season would usually do to a football club.
Senior leadership at the club only have to look at the likes of Chelsea, and in recent years Manchester United, to see what happens to so-called ‘’big clubs' if they let standards slip. Ultimately, Liverpool are sitting on something of a precipice - have another season like this one, where the club ultimately ‘succeeded’ because of a league system that is heavily weighted in their favour, or evolve quickly.
Foundations To Build On
The good news is that Liverpool still have the core of an exceptionally strong team - Florian Wirtz has shown glimpses of his real talent, Dominik Szoboszlai has grown into the number 8 short this season and is arguably the club's best player, a match-fit Alexander Isak will be the envy of just about every club in Europe, and Hugo Ekitike has already proven this season he is the real deal.
The bad news is that up to nine players could leave this summer, at least three of them for nothing, and will need to be replaced - in Mo Salah's case, he simply can't be replaced.
The club will once again need to dip heavily into the transfer market over the summer, but perhaps without the financial outlay of last year, or risk losing all the incredible work achieved over the last ten years or so. It cannot be underestimated how important the next few months will be for the direction of the club - for the fans' sake, it is paramount that the Board get it right.
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