We asked for your views on the standards at Liverpool and whether there are valid concerns about a culture problem at the club, following Mohamed Salah’s comments around the need for players to set good examples when he leaves.
Furthermore, in recent days captain Virgil van Dijk has been asked about the number of days off players get – which you can watch lower down this page – and Jamie Carragher has questioned whether a group of players seen playing one-touch in the Old Trafford tunnel were appropriately focused.
Here are some of your replies on the debate around standards:
Dan: It does seem that standards in training intensity may be drifting, this is evident in match sharpness; most notably mental and physical drop offs towards the end of games. This drop of in sharpness is also evident and shows up in the lack of pressing football this season, something that was part of ‘the way we play here’ – that identity is now missing. If you train hard you fight hard and the ability to fight is inconsistent this season!
Thomas: Mo’s hinting at slight unrest behind the scenes. It’s apparent the gel is not there like it used to be. New manager and new players, but it seems Slot has an unhappy bunch, probably as unconvinced of him as many of the fans are. Next season is definitely make or break for Slot.
Nigel: Salah’s comments always suggest something deeper is at play but, it’s easy to read too much into them. My instinct is the manager isn’t a strong enough personality, and there aren’t enough leaders in the team. Standards do appear to have dropped.
Yusuf: We used to get the best out of players such as Mane and Salah because they’d always push to do better. Henderson and Klopp would always support that. We had a genuine desire to achieve, and that competitive culture came from Klopp and his philosophy of always wanting to play fast-paced, electric football. That lack of desire and the perceived need to slow things down also comes from the lack of drive in the team. We now play football expectantly rather than proactively which is really saddening – the desire of the team has gone as the manager now wants to play slower and more controlled football. What happened to full-throttle football and wanting to make the fans come back every game? It has regressed to the opposite now – and it comes from the lack of drive, and this is not Liverpool by any stretch.
Lorraine: Something that won’t cost any money, change the skipper. VVD has no drive or passion, too cold – pass the captaincy to Dominik.
Ian: There’s no fight in the team, they’ve got lazy and sloppy. There are so many passes going astray in every game, so many mistakes in defence, so many chances missed and we’ve got the worst midfield we’ve had in years. We need a massive clearance throughout the club, not just the players, the recruitment team and management need to go too before we end up mid-table nobodies.
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