ian critchley

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@Liddellpool Does he need a lift?

[Jermaine Pennant @pennant83]

I do not care what’s going on with injuries….. reigning premier league champions should NOT have the same amount of loses as 2 promoted teams Leeds and Sunderland. Slot has to go that is NOT acceptable, the buck lies with you, and managers have gone for less a lot less.

[Eddie Gibbs @eddiegibbs]

✍️ An Open Letter to Richard Hughes

Richard,

Liverpool supporters are not unreasonable. They understand football. They understand setbacks. What they struggle to accept is a full season of the same problems repeating with no visible solution.

That is where we are now.

Sunday’s draw with Tottenham felt less like a point gained and more like an indictment of everything that has gone wrong this year. Spurs arrived in disarray. Injuries everywhere. No league wins in 2026. A squad patched together with academy players. Yet Liverpool, at Anfield, produced a performance that was hesitant, shapeless and alarmingly toothless.

In truth, Liverpool were fortunate to leave with a draw.

This isn't about one afternoon. It's about a pattern.

Week after week, Liverpool dominate possession but rarely dominate the game. The attack lacks fluency. The midfield lacks authority. The defence collapses under late pressure. The same questions are asked after every match because the same issues appear every week.

At some point, responsibility must rest with the man in charge.

Arne Slot inherited world-class players. He inherited a club built on elite standards. Yet over the past year, the football has become slower, more predictable and increasingly ineffective. When almost every player looks worse than they did twelve months ago, the explanation is rarely individual failure.

It's coaching.

Managers are judged on their ability to solve problems. Liverpool’s problems have been obvious for months, and yet the solutions have never arrived.

That is why November matters so much.

At that point, the warning signs were already clear. Performances were deteriorating. Confidence was draining from the team. Many supporters, myself included, believed decisive action was needed before the season unravelled completely.

Instead, the message that came from the club was calm reassurance. We were told everything was under control. The now infamous roundtable video in February, featuring you alongside Slot, projected unity and confidence that the direction was correct.

But unity only works when the direction is right.

Looking back now, that moment feels less like leadership and more like hesitation. A chance to confront reality was replaced with a public show of faith that the evidence on the pitch simply did not support.

That decision sits with you.

You were rightly praised last summer. The recruitment looked ambitious and intelligent. Many fans backed you completely. Yet hindsight now suggests the squad balance has not worked, and the coach entrusted to guide it has struggled badly.

Supporters can accept mistakes.

What they cannot accept is pretending a mistake has not been made.

Liverpool still possess too much talent and too much history to accept a season where the football becomes this stagnant and the standards fall this far.

Leadership requires honesty.

Arne Slot has had time. He has had patience. He has had backing.

But the problems remain exactly the same.

Deep down, you may already know the conclusion. No new contract for Slot, suggests you do.

And if that is the case, Richard, Liverpool supporters are simply asking for one thing.

The courage to act on it. 🙏

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

What dos Slot have to do to be sacked?????

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@AnfieldSector I’ve read lots about transition - but defensively the change was RB as LB is an option to change and we had been awful defensively. Midfield hasn’t changed and we cannot and do not press. Up front we brought in 2 to replace Nunez not upgrades and failed to replace Diaz

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@LFC Poor, poor, poor. What an awful performance and not the first this season!

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@LFCTransferRoom Is it me or is everything I’m reading from Slot lately building his case for performances this year not being his fault. Strange he liked the credit last year and his arrogance has led to a change in football style which very few like

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@LFCTransferRoom This one is lost. Best to prepare for next season minus Slot

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@BelieveInKlopp I’d let no one go until we get a new manager. I think all the players are off it

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@indykaila @LFC This morning? You could see the from the start of the season……

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@DaveOCKOP Such a strange comment. Results and how we play matter- not how much we’ve been behind

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@AnfieldIndex So the difference is the other team? Great motivator this fella

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@AnfieldEdition Ah right so cancel the season if a winger is injured- sick of excuses

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@Connor_LFC8 Gakpo, dribble inside and shoot , sends me insane!

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@AnfieldSector Has he really said that! He is so out of touch. He took a Klopp team with patterns of play and tempo built. He has systematically dismantled patterns of play and intentionally slowed down tempo.
He took on a good team and won the PL, but he’s the Chesney Hawkes of Football

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@Corballyred He has been poor now from before Xmas. Seems like he gets picked no matter how he plays- Slot this year though appears not to have a fixed 6. It seems to be closest to becomes- no one want to be a six so they run away from that space which is one reason for the huge gaps

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@markgoldbridge Absolutely spot on! The PL is developing into a boring, sanitised, same style football with control and lowest risk preferred over goals and winning. I watch as many games as possible but now find myself drifting off to something else rather than watch a full game 💤

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@HenryJackson87 Klopp would have won this league at a canter. Poorest PL in years- when didn’t get so boring?

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@TheAnfieldWrap Another poor 2nd half. Is this goes on Utd will finish above us- such poor energy and quality in patterns of play.

[ian critchley @idcritchley]

@TheAnfieldWrap I wonder how boring today’s game will be 🙄