Well, that was shit, wasn’t it? In a game that, on paper, seemed like a formality, Arne Slot’s Reds never left the starting blocks. A mix of complacency and fatigue was evident from kickoff, and aside from Luis Diaz’s early effort that rattled Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels’ near post, we never looked like scoring. Generally, after losses—particularly at Anfield—the primary emotion I experience is anger, as we usually squander a litany of chances on these occasions. However, after the final whistle on Saturday afternoon, I couldn’t even find anger— it was more pure bewilderment and confusion over how we managed to be so incredibly poor. The trio of Szoboszlai, Trent, and Mo gave the ball away seventy times over the course of 90 minutes. While it’s common for marquee names to have occasional bad days at the office, this was akin to the CEO, project manager, and foreman of a construction site showing up for 25 minutes before fucking off and leaving no instructions whatsoever.
While I didn’t find the first half appalling, the general lack of chance creation and the consistent trend of giving away the ball both unnecessarily and in dangerous areas became more apparent as the half wore on. The Reds enjoyed nearly 70% of the ball but managed to do next to nothing with it. In many ways, it was similar to the slow start we experienced on matchday one at Portman Road. When the halftime whistle blew, I remained (perhaps overly) confident that we’d find the opener in the second half. However, as the second half kicked off and the lack of ideas stubbornly persisted, the result began to seem inevitable. Just as I started the futile attempts to convince myself that a point wouldn’t be the worst result, Callum Hudson-Odoi cut inside on the left wing and whipped the ball into the far post of Alisson’s goal. Cue the panic—in the blink of an eye, the game morphed into the Crystal Palace fixture from the end of last season. Slot responded by immediately switching to a makeshift back three consisting of Kostas, Virgil, and Conor Bradley (please, never again). What followed was the most horrific spell of football I’ve witnessed for quite some time. The atmosphere within the ground largely reflected the brand of football on display, with the groans of the Kop seemingly acting as a repellant as attack after attack broke down, often before beginning. The ball seemed to remain out of play in a stop-start carousel that would have driven even the most clearheaded individual to the brink of straitjacket restraint—ultimately resulting in a deserved three points for Nottingham Forest.
While I am obviously incredibly disappointed with the result (more so the showing), I remain, perhaps surprisingly, positive. While Saturday certainly acted as a sobering reality check on the maddening process of trying to keep pace with City in the league, there is still plenty to dream of. The insane overreaction on social media was all too predictable, and after the parade of ‘Slot out’ tweets that I saw populate my feed, I was reminded of the complete and total absurdity that is football Twitter. While Saturday was a match that we should have walked away from with three points, I’m certain that no one expected Arne Slot to go invincible and win the quad. If you did, I highly recommend looking into the latest version of Football Manager, where you might be able to turn your fantasies into virtual reality. There will be blips this season, and personally, if we can get them ironed out in September instead of April, that’s a deal I’ll take any day of the week. In the words of Bob Marley (or was it M Dot R?), ‘Every little thing is gonna be alright.’
Arne Slot’s resilient Reds return to action Tuesday evening in the Champions League against Milan at the San Siro. If that statement doesn’t excite you, then do us both a favour—quit reading this and close your browser. Liverpool at the San Siro brings back memories of the English Maldini, Nat Phillips, Cruyff turning Zlatan inside his own 6-yard box, as well as our Lord and Savior Divock Origi scoring goals for fun in the final group game of 21/22. AC Milan has struggled massively to begin this season, and while the San Siro on a European night is never an easy task, it might be just what we need to get back on track. Liverpool’s love affair with the European Cup resumes after a year-long break, and I couldn’t be more excited. I think we’ll see a re-energized side following the disappointment of Saturday, and an early goal would do our confidence a world of good. Roll on Tuesday.
Prediction: 1-3 Liverpool
First Goal Scorer: Darwin Nunez
Anytime Goal Scorers: Mohammed Salah (x2), Rafael Leao
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