In the wake of their Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night, Liverpool have been accused of having an ‘attitude problem’ and committing ‘acts of vandalism’ this season.
The Reds went down to a 2-0 loss at Anfield and a 4-0 aggregate defeat against PSG, but they were still alive in the tie until Ousmane Dembele’s first goal in the 72nd minute, and numerous pundits praised the determination that Arne Slot’s side showed up until that point.
The performance was in stark contrast to many of LFC’s other defeats throughout the campaign, and Dominic King referenced numerous poor results over the past few months in which the Merseysiders were inexplicably flat.
In an article for The Telegraph headlined ‘Liverpool players have an attitude problem and PSG defeat proves it’, the journalist wrote: ‘Judged on what Liverpool demonstrated in the opening 72 minutes against Paris Saint-Germain, Europe’s finest troupe, how are they the only team to have failed to beat Tottenham in their last eight domestic matches?
‘Here’s another: given what was on show during a frenzied spell before half-time, when the great Brazil defender Marquinhos flung himself in front of Virgil van Dijk to stop a certain goal and haul PSG off the ropes, how did Liverpool allow themselves to submerge away at Wolves?
‘Neither of those results should have happened. Nor should they have lost to Brighton, been pummelled at home by Nottingham Forest, slipped up at Bournemouth or failed to beat Leeds and Burnley at Anfield. When you look through Liverpool’s results, all you can see are acts of vandalism.’
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The manner in which Liverpool went down fighting against the European champions last night makes the other draws/defeats mentioned by King all the more difficult to explain or accept.
Wayne Rooney questioned whether the Reds will have the requisite motivation to pick themselves up off the canvas and secure victory away to Everton on Sunday, and those remarks must surely sting Slot’s squad.
The reason why LFC are now scrambling to secure Champions League qualification for 2026/27 is because of the plethora of off-days against teams in the lower reaches of the Premier League table. In 12 matches against the current bottom six this season, we’ve dropped 12 points (four draws, two defeats).
Liverpool have been unfortunate in certain games (when will Harrison Reed ever again hit a shot like he did in stoppage time at Craven Cottage in January?), but all too often when facing lower-placed opposition, we’ve displayed an unforgivable lack of intensity or quality.
The PSG game showed that the Reds are capable of producing when they’re in the right mindset, and that level of effort is the minimum prerequisite for the final six games of the season. As Steve Nicol pointed out, they also need a greater cutting edge in attack to accompany it.
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