Liverpool's recent struggles explained by The Athletic's Andy Jones | OneFootball

Liverpool's recent struggles explained by The Athletic's Andy Jones | OneFootball

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·22 October 2025

Liverpool's recent struggles explained by The Athletic's Andy Jones

Article image:Liverpool's recent struggles explained by The Athletic's Andy Jones

Liverpool's season so far has been described as "wild" by The Athletic's Andy Jones, who is expecting a "mad" game against Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday, live on Sky Sports.

The Reds have lost their last three league games and there have been some questions asked about the balance of their squad, with the division's title holders reportedly spending over £400 million this season.

Jones has theorised why Arne Slot's side haven't quite hit top gear, focusing on their new signings and the form of Mohamed Salah.


Liverpool are fourth in the Premier League going into Saturday night's trip to the Gtech. What have you made of their season so far?


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It has been wild! That is probably the best way to describe it.

Liverpool started off winning seven on the bounce, but a large majority of those games were decided in the final minutes when Liverpool scored the winner. The last three in the league have been a snowball of problems.

There have been a lot of questions asked, a lot of concern about what Liverpool's identity is, and what the plan is. The bedding in of the new players is taking time and there have been a fair few growing pains.

Those last three games, in particular, have all been identical: they have been lost after conceding in the first 15 minutes, managing to get back into the game by throwing a large number of attacking players on, equalising and then conceding.

Two of those three goals have been in the last minute, and Manchester United's goal was also a late one. It has been a season where every game, pretty much, has been on a knife-edge entering the final stages.

Arne Slot has spoken a lot at the end of last season, and this season, about wanting to be more dominant and get bigger leads.

Even in games where they have, when they have been 2-0 up, the opposition have still come back into it and either made it 2-2 or have been close to making it 2-2.

It has just been very, very different from the methodical, controlled way Slot's Liverpool started last season, in particular, which obviously built the foundation for winning the league.

'There has been a lot of concern about what Liverpool's identity is and what the plan is. The bedding in of the new players is taking time and there have been a fair few growing pains'

There was a lot of squad turnover in the summer. Do you think that has had any impact on the recent downturn in results?

It has definitely played a part in it. For the first few months of the season, Slot has been managing players adapting to a new league, a change in approach, different full-backs trying to learn their roles, trying to incorporate Florian Wirtz.

Alexander Isak had no pre-season, so he was way behind in terms of where Liverpool wanted him, fitness-wise. That has come across in his performances, where he has shown flashes of brilliance, but just does not look at his top, peak level.

They have also been undergoing a bit of a style switch in terms of what they have been trying to do with the setup. There has been a fair bit of chopping and changing.

At right-back, for example, there's been a lot of rotation. Dominik Szoboszlai - a centre-midfielder - has played a fair few games there, initially forced because of injuries to the right-backs, but then he has continued to be Slot's go-to.

The biggest problem has been the lack of defensive intensity. One of the hallmarks of the Slot era, particularly the early period of last season, was how strong Liverpool were defensively.

They lost their defensive intensity once they won the league last season, as was shown in the results. At the time, it did not matter, but with the exception of the Arsenal game, it does not quite feel like they have rediscovered that defensive intensity.

Teams have not found it difficult to score against Liverpool. In the last three Premier League games, Liverpool have conceded the first shot the opponents have had, which has put them on the back foot.

A large portion of the problem is that whatever game plan they have had has basically been ripped up in the first 15 minutes because they keep falling behind.

Given the number of changes, there were always going to be growing pains. There was hope that, and I guess what you saw in that run of victories, individual quality would help them get through it, but now that is not quite the case; they are finding themselves behind in games, then it is looking a little bit more questionable about what exactly the aim is.

Slot is still trying to find his best XI and he is also managing fitness issues. Alexis Mac Allister, for example, just does not quite look his usual self and he is certainly not the only one.

Then he is managing form of players, like Salah, for example. He has, for so long, been Liverpool's best and most important player, but players like him are just not in form at the moment.

It is a collection of everything, really.

On Salah, why do you think he seems to have dropped off recently?

It is a good question. One of the key things to look at is that there has been a lot of change around him.

There is a new striker, and I know Szoboszlai has played as a No.10 recently, but Wirtz has been playing there. There has been a significant change at right-back, with Trent Alexander-Arnold no longer there.

Their relationship on that right-hand side was telepathic. In the Chelsea game, after the match, Marc Cucurella spoke about trying to target the space in behind Salah.

Since Slot arrived at Liverpool, one of the things Salah has not done is track back, with the idea being to keep him up the pitch and keep him fresh so that, when Liverpool get possession, he is fresh, ready to attack and score.

That is exactly what happened last season. But the risk with that is, if you are not getting the output, you start questioning his value to the team. I think that is where the questions have come from.

He has looked sharp, he has looked involved in some games, but he has not looked involved in other games and, when you go into the stats, his touches are down, he is not getting on the ball as much in dangerous positions as he was last season.

He had a big chance against Manchester United, there was a big chance against Chelsea as well, but he missed both and that is not what you would expect. Salah has never been the most clinical finisher, but when those moments come to him, generally, he puts them in the back of the net, and that is what has made him such a great player for Liverpool.

I think there is also the overarching thing of what happened in the summer with his team-mate Diogo Jota. After the Bournemouth victory, Salah stayed on at the end and was very, very emotional.

It is very rare that something so tragic happens in football, but it affects players in different ways.

In the message he put out after Jota's passing, he said it was the first time he felt frightened to go back to Liverpool because of what had happened. Grief is unique and unpredictable, and affects everyone differently.

Ultimately, he just doesn't look his usual self. It is his worst run in the Premier League, in terms of no open-play goals, since he arrived at Liverpool, which sums up how good he has been over the years.

The interesting thing is whether Slot keeps persisting with him, and eventually, the typical class is permanent, form is temporary, works itself out, or if he starts looking to freshen things up a little bit.

At the moment, he is not having the positive impact on Liverpool that he has in almost every game he has played for them so far.

Which player should Brentford fans be keeping an eye on on Saturday night?

If Hugo Ekitike starts, then I would say him. Of Liverpool's signings in the summer, he has been the one who has hit the ground running and looked really bright.

He has been quite unfairly left out of the last couple of Premier League games. He had the silly red card against Southampton, where I think he forgot he had been booked, and took his top off after he scored the winner.

That meant he missed the Crystal Palace game and you wonder if he might have started that one. He showed, most recently against Manchester United, when he came off the bench, he is just a breath of fresh air and changed the dynamic of Liverpool's attack.

He is really good on the ball, he can get you up the pitch with his dribbling, he is always looking to link play and get into goalscoring positions, and it has paid off with the goals he has scored so far.

He is a young player who is enjoying his football. They have got so many quality players, which is why everyone feels that they are going to find a way to make it work eventually. When it does, it should be quite fun to watch.

What should Keith Andrews' side expect from Liverpool in terms of shape and style?

It is pretty similar to what they did last season: the 4-2-3-1 system. There was a little bit of a tweak against Manchester United, who play a back-three, where Slot pushed both of his two higher centre-midfielders further forward, which left Ryan Gravenberch on his own in the middle to build play.

The ultimate question is what Liverpool's style is at the moment. Because of the changes, they are not quite playing the same way as they did last season. It is also difficult to adjust the playing style when they keep going 1-0 down, because that changes the dynamic.

One of Liverpool's issues so far this season has been against the back-three. Crystal Palace have become a bit of a bogey team, and Manchester United were able to have success as well. It is one of those systems where they are not quite clicking. The record, generally, across Slot's tenure against back-three teams is pretty good, but they have had a few problems with it in more recent times.

Generally, it will be your usual Liverpool. They want to dominate the ball; they want to control the game.

It will be interesting to see if they can get through that initial phase at 0-0 at the very least, then see how they can impose themselves on the game. That is not what they have been able to do in the last few games because they have been behind after 15 minutes!

The four Premier League meetings in west London have produced 17 goals, one Brentford win, two Liverpool wins and a draw. What's your score prediction?

It really could be anything! It feels like this run cannot continue. I am going to go with a 2-1 Liverpool win, but I think it is going to be a mad game.

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