Are We Victims Of Our Own Success?
Slot coming in and winning the league first go round was a pleasant surprise. Then we took the transfer market by storm and added firepower and creativity, only missing out on one major target. That success was followed by rattling off five straight wins in the league and looking like, while not as steady as we would like, the season would flow smoothly from there.
READ MORE: The Beautiful Game by T. Alex Hauber
SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW: YouTube / X (Formerly Twitter) / Instagram / TikTok / Patreon / BlueSky
Then… it all went sideways. Liverpool has lost four consecutive games across multiple competitions. Center back depth suddenly seemed as shallow as a kiddie pool. That aforementioned firepower we dreamed about was misfiring more than purring. The rapidity with which fans have already swung into the mode of laying blame is dizzying. Salah is too slow. Wirtz is just expensive eye candy. The defense is all unsettled. Ultimately, Slot cannot coach is something I didn’t expect to see given the end of last season.
We defied the odds and did it in style. Now, when we are finally going through a transition period, which should have arguably happened last year, there is no patience. That patience was reserved for when we had no success to point to, and Slot was a new factor we were waiting to see rise or fall. But now, we know the heights we can get to. There is no room for a moment of patience. We have become the victims of our own success, and we aren’t sure how to handle it.
SHOP THE AMERICAN SCOUSER COLLECTION TODAY
We are either good or bad. But we are struggling with being good, but having a bad patch. Those have been few and far between, probably the last being with Brendan Rogers. So we are hitting panic buttons and bemoaning moments when, in reality, losing a couple of games in the league and one of the group stage Champions League games is something even great teams hit. The idea of never losing a game in a calendar season is beautiful. It’s utopian. It’s a perfection one might be forgiven for dreaming. But when it cracks, it doesn’t mean you throw everything out the window and yell the sky is falling.