22 May 2026 06:30:39
At the end of what has been a grim season, who would you say have been the club’s biggest under performers? I’d offer the following nominees:
Gakpo
Konate
Macallister
Isak
For me, personally, the gong would have to go to Macallister who has had such a stark drop off, it’s nuts.
Thoughts?
TBR.
{Ed025's Note - i think you have to add Wirtz to that list TBR..
22 May 2026 06:46:56
A smaller list would be those who have met expectations.
22 May 2026 06:59:32
I think the whole team has underperformed. There is not one player who I would say has played to their level consistently.
You could rank them into pyramid tiers of just how badly they’ve underperformed. Isak is undoubtedly top of that pyramid in tier 1. Konate and Mac Allister probably aren’t far below him in tier 2. Below them you’d have Mardashvili, Salah, Gakpo, Wirtz, Gravenberch and Van Dijk in tier 3. Then at the bottom you’d probably have Szoboszlai, Kerkez, Jones, Alisson and Ekitike in tier 4.
I think that’s probably everyone who has started 10+ games and is fair to judge. They literally all underperformed, though.
Even Szoboszlai has been poor in open play. Kerkez had a really ropey start. Alisson has let in some soft ones. Jones hasn’t progressed at all. Ekitike had long goal droughts where he looked totally ineffective. They’re only bottom of the pyramid because others have been so much further below the levels expected. I almost put Wirtz in tier 4, but then I remembered he cost £100m. So his 7 goals and 10 assists might not be a bad return for a 22 year old AM in his first season, but for that money we expected a consistent game changer.
When the whole squad is underperforming, you don’t look at the players, you look at the coaching staff.
22 May 2026 07:03:33
I would give every award to Slot. It's hard to judge players that are never match fit, because the manager is too busy holidaying every week. He makes Gloria Hunniford look like Dennis Bergkamp when it comes to air miles.
22 May 2026 08:00:47
That list is wildly inaccurate. Everybody has underperformed this season. Dom's been our best player by a country mile, and even he's made an absolute donkey of himself at times.
22 May 2026 08:01:03
Add Mo to the list.
22 May 2026 08:06:40
Isak can't be added to the most under performers, he has been injured all season, but my top 5 would be
1.. Konate easily
2.. Macallister
3.. Gravenberch
4.. Wirtz
5. Konate ... yea he has been twice as bad as everyone else.
22 May 2026 08:11:44
Agree with MK.
22 May 2026 08:12:24
The entire squad bar Rio has been poor this season, and yes, I include Szobo on that. He's been better than the rest, scored some great free kicks, but in open play it's a lot of huffing and puffing and passing the ball backwards.
22 May 2026 08:18:09
1- Mo Salah (Only because his usual standards were so high)
2- VVD (Same reason as above)
3- Konate (Dire season)
4- MacAllister (Dire season, personal issues affected him too)
5- Gakpo (Showed us the sum total of nothing)
6- Wirtz (Big reputation, little end product - poor)
7- Gravenberch (Played in a more advanced role, offers no protection, I find him lazy)
8- Frimpong (Not a top 6 Premier League player).
22 May 2026 08:29:52
Grino, do you mean Judith Chalmers?
22 May 2026 08:33:36
You'd only say Isak because of what we paid for him, but let's be fair, the guy had his leg broken with a horror tackle whilst scoring a goal.
For me it has to be Virgil or Mo.
We've relied on these guys for so long, but this season they have both been absolutely awful. As senior members of the squad, they should set the tone, and they absolutely have.
22 May 2026 08:46:24
Konate
Salah
MacAllister
Gakpo
Gravy
In that order.
22 May 2026 08:46:44
Agree on all of the above.
Every player has underperformed this season.
Konate, Virg, Salah, Mac & Gakpo have all had their worst seasons of their Liverpool careers.
Mama looks like a huge drop off from Ali, which is to be expected, but I think it's something like we've lost 13 of the 20 games he's played.
Bradley's been injured more often than not (only played 200 mins more than Isak).
Grav looks like a different player to last season.
And Slot seems to believe possession is more important than clean sheets and scoring goals.
22 May 2026 08:57:35
Isak has 4 goals in 22 games. Yes, only 13 were starts, but the reason why he hasn't started more is because he showed up half-fit, didn't justify starting over Ekitike and then, since returning from his broken leg, he's still struggled to stay fit enough to start or play more than 20 minutes off the bench. £125m for a guy who hasn't completed 90 minutes once and only has 4 goals; you just can't sugar coat that. He's still played 22 times, and also, let's not just focus on the lack of goals. His all round play has been diabolical. He barely even touches the ball. We've seen flashes of how good his finishing can be, but he is unequivocally the flop of the season.
Not just for us, but the entire Premier League. The question is if he's the one at fault or if we're not using him correctly. I think in Isak's case, it's a bit of both.
I forgot about Frimpong, by the way. I'd say he's right up there with Mac Allister and Konate in Tier 2. He's been absolutely woeful in most of his appearances. Again, though, I'm looking at the manager. Why have we signed a wing back and then played him mainly as a RW where he is largely ineffective? And why has a player who'd never been injured in his career suddenly become plagued with hamstring troubles? It all points towards a lack of tactical nous and high intensity training.
22 May 2026 08:58:11
@Bootroom, I think you're gonna need a longer list cos every player has underperformed completely, based on their production last season.
And this goes for the new signings, as well, when you compare their output at their former clubs last season to this one.
22 May 2026 09:13:54
Agree with Stroms, except Wirtz and Konate switching places.
22 May 2026 09:17:08
Slot... He is the common denominator in the team's failure.
22 May 2026 10:20:02
Richard Hughes and Slot.
22 May 2026 10:41:19
I wouldn’t say Rio has set the world on fire. 2 goals and 1 assist isn’t great, and, before you all start, I know he’s been a sub, but for all his step overs he’s very far from being ready. He looks good because he’s the only one direct and Gakpo has been awful.
22 May 2026 11:11:13
Isak's 100% on the list; believe it or not he's played 22 games. Sure he's only averaged 45 mins per game, still, for £120m, you would expect more of an impact than 4 goals.
22 May 2026 11:23:56
Minutes-wise he averages a goal every 5 games or thereabouts. Not bad for a 17-year-old winger in England. Not too far off the likes of Saka and Bowen in fairness. We've a player there.
22 May 2026 12:02:38
There's no doubt Isak hasn't impressed, but I just don't think you could possibly say he's the biggest under performer when we've had players who've played pretty much every game and been just as bad if not worse than him.
The only reason you are saying that Mk is because of the price tag and your own disappointment.
Virgil has played every Premier League game and continues to shirk tackles, get beaten in the air, drop deep at every opportunity and leave the structure of the team in disarray. We get so wide from back to front that we could have 6 DM's, and they still couldn't plug the gaps.
That's all down to Virgil's reluctance to push up and hold his line.
Mo's outbursts, whilst playing absolutely gash, have unsettled the team and the harmony in the squad.
Both have been a huge problem this season, and, for me, are the root cause of most of our issues.
They're not on their own in playing poorly, but, if you were to ask me who I'm most disappointed with this season, it would 100% be those two. They've been amazing for us, two world class performers, which is why the drop off has been so noticeable and had such an impact on performances and results.
22 May 2026 12:18:27
For me, in order:
Macca
Mo
Konate
Gravenberch
Gakpo
Others like Isak, Frimpong, Bradley, I'm giving a pass due to injuries.
Wirtz, I wouldn't put on this list as I wasn't expecting him to hit the ground running anyways.
22 May 2026 14:42:28
The games Isak has played have been where he has been brought back way too early from his injuries, the rest were run outs trying to get some sort of fitness and oh yeah, the team have been abysmal, I won't judge Isak until next season when he is fully fit n raring to go with a forward thinking manager.