25/26 Season Review : Liverpool

The 2025/26 campaign for Liverpool was a grueling, intensely difficult journey that completely transcended the standard boundaries of professional sport. Tasked with mounting a domestic title defense under Arne Slot, the club’s sporting objectives were immediately upended by an unimaginable tragedy that shattered its psychological foundation before a competitive ball was even kicked. Navigating profound, collective grief alongside massive structural and physical setbacks, Liverpool endured a exhausting season that ultimately resulted in Slot’s departure at the end of the campaign. While the on-pitch reality ultimately forced an institutional reset, judging this specific ten-month cycle through a normal competitive lens is entirely impossible.

The absolute defining shadow over Liverpool’s season materialized on July 3rd, 2025. The footballing community was shaken to its core by the tragic passing of forward Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva in a horrific car accident. The devastating loss completely shattered the club’s pre-season schedule, stripping the dressing room of an immensely popular figure and casting a profound psychological weight over the entire squad. Grieving, lacking a proper physical pre-season, and mentally drained, the defending champions experienced a steep domestic slide, finishing 5th in the Premier League with 60 points and just barely achieving automatic Champions League qualification.

Despite navigating arguably one of the most mentally trying environments a modern coach has ever faced, the relentless drop-off in league performance eventually forced an institutional intervention. On the weekend of the Champions League final, sporting directors Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes made the calculated decision to dismiss Arne Slot, bringing a premature end to the Dutchman’s tenure. While their domestic form faltered, the team still battled fiercely on multiple fronts, reaching the Champions League Quarterfinals before being eliminated by eventual back-to-back winners Paris Saint-Germain, alongside an intense FA Cup Quarterfinal exit against Manchester City.

The primary driving factor behind Liverpool’s tactical drop-off was a severe, systemic loss of structural control in transition phases. The team routinely struggled to protect their back four, with the midfield engine room appearing remarkably easy to play through. Mentally exhausted and operating on depleted psychological reserves, a highly frustrating pattern emerged where Liverpool simply ran out of oxygen as well as ideas.

The on-pitch instability was heavily exacerbated by an unbalanced squad architecture. While massive financial maneuvers brought marquee arrivals like Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, and Jeremie Frimpong to Anfield, the summer recruitment strategy left the roster heavily exposed. Protracted negotiations meant key assets arrived entirely devoid of a physical pre-season baseline, and the team lacked the explosive, out-and-out wide pace required to stretch opponents and properly execute Slot’s tactical framework.

Amid the structural and emotional friction, individual profiles stepped forward to display immense competitive courage and anchor the club’s floor.

Dominik Szoboszlai. In a campaign defined by exhausting structural and emotional turmoil, the Hungarian international was the undisputed crown jewel of Liverpool’s midfield and right-back rotation. Clocking a relentless 53 appearances and delivering 13 goals in all competitions, Szoboszlai single-handedly kept the engine room breathing. His phenomenal technical security, progressive ball-carrying, and lung-busting tactical coverage provided the spine with an invaluable floor. Whether orchestrating the high-tempo press loops or unleashing devastating long-range strikes, which rightfully earned him a shortlist nomination for Premier League Goal of the Season, he played with an elite, uncompromising intensity that completely carried the team’s transition phases through their darkest times

Hugo Ekitiké: Brought in to fortify the frontline rotation, the young French striker was an absolute revelation. Ekitiké carried the attack with clinical presence and intense work rate, emerging as a magnificent shining light until a tragic Achilles tendon rupture during their European showdown against Paris Saint-Germain cut his individual campaign short.
Conversely, Liverpool’s decline from league champions to fifth place was accelerated by catastrophic individual form regressions and an unprecedented wave of long-term injuries.

The most prominent individual regression belonged to Alexis Mac Allister. Tasked with anchoring the middle third alongside Ryan Gravenberch, the Argentine maestro suffered a highly concerning drop-off in his defensive tracking and sense of positional judgement. Completely lacking the physical dynamism and spatial awareness to handle threats, Mac Allister was repeatedly bypassed by rapid counter-attacks, leaving the central channels completely vacant.

This midfield vulnerability was compounded at right back by Jeremie Frimpong, who arrived from Germany with an immaculate fitness history only to be repeatedly struck down by cyclical hamstring and muscle injuries. Furthermore, the defensive line was entirely destabilized by long-term casualties; star goalkeeper Alisson Becker suffered lengthy absences, Wataru Endō was ruled out for the season in the spring, and young center-back Giovanni Leoni sustained a devastating injury that stripped Slot of vital defensive options.

With Andoni Iraola’s new regime poised to take charge, the Liverpool hierarchy has already executed a sweeping, high-stakes institutional overhaul to secure their post-Slot future. The board has acted with immense authority by officially sealing a spectacular €60 million agreement to sign Rennes’ prodigy Jérémy Jacquet as the replacement for the departing Ibrahima Konaté. Furthermore, with Mohamed Salah leaving, the recruitment team remains in intense, active talks with RB Leipzig to secure explosive Ivorian winger Yan Diomande to restore missing flank velocity.

The remaining transfer mandates are clear and concrete. To fully stabilize their defensive floor and allow the recovering Giovanni Leoni to reintegrate without undue pressure, Liverpool are aggressively pursuing Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton to provide an elite, press-resistant single-pivot anchor. To address the wide vulnerabilities exposed on the right flank during Frimpong’s fitness struggles, the sporting directors should look into Brentford’s Michael Kayode, providing the incoming coach with a positionally disciplined, robust full-back capable of handling isolated wide duels and restoring balance to a side facing a total cultural reset.

Judging this campaign purely on raw footballing metrics would yield a significantly lower score, as dropping from first to fifth and failing to secure Champions League football represents a massive failure by Liverpool’s modern standards. However, it is entirely intellectually dishonest to ignore the unique, heartbreaking human tragedy and unprecedented medical crisis this squad had to endure. This perfectly recognizes the immense psychological burden borne by the dressing room while acknowledging that the on-pitch reality ultimately required a necessary, sweeping managerial change.

Final Score: 5 / 10