02 Sep 2026 13:40:21
It was easy to go from high intensity to a lower intensity. Slot reaped the benefits of it, the team got fewer injuries and football seemed intuitive at first and we seem to have tailed off towards the end of his first season.
Going from low intensity to higher will take a lot more work and will result in injuries as seen from Klopp's first couple seasons. It won’t be pretty at first but we will get there!
02 Sep 2026 13:57:41
I agree with your second paragraph, Waqas. It was the same thing when Klopp replaced BR. Remember that we were playing a variation of Slotball of passing for passing's sake, slow movement, and tiki-taka "Kill them with football" crap, which set the team back after the title challenging season of 13/14.
Look how long it took for Klopp to fully implement his high octane, high press football philosophy.
Almost 3 years. Hopefully it doesn't take that long for Iraola, cos football has changed since then and time is of the essence.
The only diff. here is that Klopp got majority of the players he wanted. Can't say that for Iraola, sadly.
02 Sep 2026 14:04:49
Klopp also got the players he wanted over a few windows, not all in the same one. And he did have the good doctor by his side throughout that period too. AI has barely been here three months and he has to work with Hughes who is also doubling up as the DOF for Al Hilal.
Imo I don't think it'd take him three years for results to improve, but I suspect it'd take him at least 6 months for things to click.
It did take him roughly that long too to get Bournemouth up and running again after losing 4 out of 5 of their backline last summer. The only saving grace he has now is that he has players who have played under Klopp so it should be faster for their bodies to get used to the high intensity again.
02 Sep 2026 14:23:56
Oli, Klopp would have killed to start out with the players Iraola has at his disposal right now; they're a league above what Klopp took over.
02 Sep 2026 14:25:12
Agree with both of you guys. Our squad was in a much worse shape when BR left and Klopp joined. These players are of higher quality; the transition should be faster. Frimpong reminds me of Albie Moreno. Great character, lots of pace, small and can’t defend!
We in today’s world don’t just have inflated transfer fees; the patience has gone the deflationary route!
02 Sep 2026 14:35:05
Agree with that, Chewy.
02 Sep 2026 14:35:50
Waqas, patience has been replaced with entitlement. In the last 7 years we’ve won 8 trophies and finished between 1st and 5th every season. These are the best years to be a Liverpool fan since the late 80’s. Unfortunately some fans think we have a divine right to win everything, every season.
We’ve spent nearly £700m in just over 12 months. Let’s leave the coaches to get the best out of all that talent, then revisit it in 6-12 months. Yes, it might take time. Just enjoy the ride man.
02 Sep 2026 14:52:25
Are Liverpool the best fans in the world or some of the most entitled?
I suppose when one decides to support a successful super club from behind a keyboard or stream over thousands of other clubs and ones on their doorstep, entitlement is definitely a significant factor.
All super club fans are entitled. It's just they get called plastic and LFC the greatest.
{Ed001's Note - that's not always why they end up supporting LFC. Your getting tedious and bigoted now about fans that are not locals. How do you know they are not choosing them because they have a friend that supports LFC or comes from Liverpool? Or family. Most of my friends that weren't into football at all are now Liverpool fans, simply because of me, not because the club is successful. They had no idea about any of that when they began following us. They were just looking out for us because of me. All this constant digs is tiresome now, so give it a rest please.}
02 Sep 2026 14:58:26
Correct, Chewy.
02 Sep 2026 15:09:04
It's the life of being a modern-day fan, MK. Chelsea have been an absolute circus for years, but now they've got Xabi, signed players left, right and center and won two games. Pundits are going to put them above us in any predictions for the year and our own fans are going to start believing they are a better run club with better prospects than our own. It's like we have a tendency to be pre-emptively dismissive of our club, imagining that we're a laughing stock if we don't hit the heights every year.
I myself am a bit ambivalent, because I think appointing Iraola was the bravest thing the hierarchy could have done.
He is the least cookie-cutter appointment among all the elite clubs in Europe and believes in brave football, rather than meek, risk-averse, shading-the-margins football, which is what all coaches at the highest level tend to be. At the same time, our squad is short of one or two players to truly deliver on his vision, and that shortage is quite needless. At the same time, you might argue that all the pieces can't be put together in one window. Yes, the summer window hasn't been great, but Jacquet and Munoz look absolutely fantastic signings for the long term and Barcola was the best winger on the market besides Diomande.
02 Sep 2026 15:09:39
If we are making comparisons to times gone by, I’m expecting this season to be similar to the 21/22 season.
We’d won the league in 19/20 and were overwhelming favourites going into 20/21 and started off really well. A few season-ending injuries later, and we were struggling for top 4. I believe we lost 6 games in a row at Anfield and literally looked like we’d never win again. We eventually managed to scrape 3rd.
Pundits and opposition fans wrote us off going into 21/22 but I was left thinking, hang on, we still have most of the title-winning team and there were mitigating circumstances to our poor form last season.
We ended up winning both domestic cups, were 1 point off City for the title and lost to Madrid in the CL final. The closest any team has ever come to winning the quadruple.
Now I don’t believe this team is capable of those feats but I don’t think they need to be. 80-85 points will put you in title contention and I think we are capable of that.
We have a relatively decent draw in the CL and as we saw last season with Arsenal, if you can win the league phase of the CL you can get a very easy run all the way to the final. Even our team of last season would’ve beaten Leverkusen, Sporting and Atletico over 2 legs with the second leg at Anfield.
The domestic cups will depend on how seriously Iraola wants to take them.
I understand that back in 21/22 we didn’t have the upheaval of a new manager and we still had Klopp but I do think last season was the perfect storm. I think that’s as bad as we can possibly get and I expect us to be much, much better this season.
We’ve had some issues in the first 2 games but we haven’t lost either of them. This team will improve week on week and I expect us to be flying by the second half of the season and make a push for the title. We just need to have a bit of patience.
02 Sep 2026 15:17:00
I live just under 11,000km away from Liverpool and I started supporting Liverpool after our 2005 UCL win. My dad was disappointed, though, since he is a Utd fan and was hoping that I'd join in his footsteps. Not sure why you think local fans are better than fans like me, just because they have the privilege of being born in the city and having easy access to watching live games.
I don't have that luxury, so here I am staying up until 3am or even foregoing sleep on some nights just so I can watch the team I love play live. But hey, I guess you can call me entitled just because I don't live in the city and watch us play at Anfield. ;)
02 Sep 2026 15:25:29
Drac, you’ve just absolutely shot me down there.
I hold my hands up and apologise.
02 Sep 2026 15:27:55
Waqas Under slot Gomez, Bradley, Frimpong, Gravenberch, Becker, Ekitike, Leoni, Chieza, Salha were all injured under Slot.
02 Sep 2026 15:10:41
Fair enough Ed001 ?
{Ed001's Note - thanks JK.}
02 Sep 2026 15:28:43
JK23, who are you to judge? If you've ever once thought the actions of the club, manager, or team were not satisfactory and that you expected more from Liverpool, are you not in a way acting entitled yourself? Wheter you were born on Anfield rd or not?
Fans aren't "entitled" just because they 'chose' to support Liverpool. 99% of Liverpool fans aren't from Liverpool, should we take them all away and see how the club gets on? You should appreciate the entire fanbase; without them the club wouldn't have the revenue to continue being successful.
Funnily enough, how you're acting now is the pure definition of entitled, the notion that Liverpool-based fans are 'the real fans' and somehow inherently above everyone else. The irony.
02 Sep 2026 15:48:47
Chewy, it’s an open opinions forum, agree or disagree as much as you want. Of course I’m entitled. I want all the teams I support to do well and win.
02 Sep 2026 16:22:54
I don't think it's entitlement to support one of the biggest clubs in the world with some of the highest revenues and wages and expect us to have the ambition to challenge on all fronts every year... that's just standards
There shouldn't be a world that exists where any of us are just hoping to finish top 4, and the way certain elements of our club are being run are simply unacceptable.
Iraola obviously deserves time to get the team playing his way. But it's perfectly reasonable to be upset with the squad "planning" that has left Iraola with more problems to add to what's already a difficult job.
02 Sep 2026 16:27:50
Used to annoy me so much when you get called a plastic fan because you don’t live in Liverpool. My Dad supported Liverpool, which is why I supported them. I have every kit ever since I was born & won nothing through my whole secondary school. People still said I was a glory hunter. You soon learn Liverpool is more than a club. It's a family.
02 Sep 2026 16:59:01
Pet hate for me too this whole "we're local we're better" lark, I must say. Cop on lads. It's only an elite club because of its 100s of millions of fans around the world.
02 Sep 2026 17:01:48
Funny you say Liverpool is more than a club, I had a friend getting into football around the time Bale left Spurs and he asked me who he should support and I told him Liverpool was a special club that you didn't really get to choose so he should support Spurs ? He eventually ended up supporting Liverpool but it still makes me chuckle whenever I think about.
02 Sep 2026 17:13:03
Entitlement isn’t a byproduct of the global outreach of the sport; it is, however, a byproduct of the social media. Hype and controversial opinions and hyperbole sell. @iwillbered, you are talking slots second season when the fitness levels were down in the mud.
02 Sep 2026 17:30:13
Here's my take on the "plastic fan" debate.
Back in the late '60s, early '70s I was a West Brom season ticket holder. I think I had one for 3 seasons. I remember going to the League Cup Final in 1969, when Albion lost. A young family member, who was in the party I went with, cried his eyes out all the way back. I, on the other hand, couldn't give a flying fish. This, looking back, was a sign that I wasn't really in love with the club.
Roll forward to the 1971 Cup Final, and it was always the done thing to support a side. I chose Liverpool. Over the years that followed I was always taken in by highlights of Liverpool night matches and the atmosphere of the Kop. I remember watching tele with my Mom and us both being intoxicated with the noise and colour, and I thought I want to experience that when I'm old enough. That I did. I started catching the train up, when you didn't need a ticket, and have been going ever since.
I fully appreciate, and have said many times on here, that I am lucky to have access to tickets for all home games, and also fortunate that I can afford to go.
However, in recent years I've started to think that I miss out on going up the Albion with my lifelong mates. Some might say, well start doing that. To fall out of love with Liverpool would be like leaving my wife of 39 years and going with another woman! It's never going to happen.
Where JK may have been coming from with his post (he doesn't need me to speak up for him) is the fans who follow Liverpool because of our success, never go to games, but they have a club right on their doorstep. Where I live, I love to see young kids, in the park, with West Brom shirts on, knowing they will be going to games rather than wearing Liverpool shirts, and chances are they'll never get to go to a game.
I'm sorry for the rambling post. I doubt if many folk got to the end of it.
02 Sep 2026 17:35:53
John Barnes is the reason why so many non-white Brits born in the 70s and 80s are Liverpool fans.
02 Sep 2026 17:03:47
JK23, your comments are embarrassing. You're making the people of Liverpool appear small-minded and backward - and I take that personally. Thankfully most scousers are more open-minded.
I'm Irish. The Irish pretty much built Liverpool. They built the docks, the roads, the canals. Three-quarters of the city claim Irish heritage.
Maybe you should be asking my permission to support Liverpool? (I'm being a little facetious here, obviously - for the fun)
Seriously though. LFC has proud socialist roots drawn from major figures in its history. Scots famously played a major role in building the club, and I don't think Shankly or Bob Paisley would be too impressed at your attitude.
Shankly looked at football - and the world - through the lens of socialism and collective effort. If a fan gave their loyalty and hard-earned money to support the team, they were part of that community.
That was his code.
He routinely answered letters from fans from all over, even paying for tickets out of his own pocket without ever questioning where the supporters were from.
Maybe you should pick up a book and educate yourself about the club you seem to claim ownership of. It belongs to the people. Not you.
Players from all over the world have played for LFC - helping us to success "as part of our team" and inspiring children from far-off continents to follow us. and if that somehow makes you angry, maybe you should seek professional help.
Or support Chelsea. They'd love your attitude. A perfect fit.
02 Sep 2026 17:48:48
FPF, non-white Brits could've supported the Albion due to the "Three Degrees", and do.
John Barnes is my all-time hero, by the way.
02 Sep 2026 17:54:08
Lassic, cheers for the history lesson mate.
Apologies I triggered you so much.
02 Sep 2026 18:29:02
Amazing how many people jump on when an ED makes a point.
02 Sep 2026 18:54:27
If I may correct myself, it was the 1970 League Cup Final. The vast majority on here weren't even born.
02 Sep 2026 19:06:41
Lassic, you mention Shankly. I reckon he would've had more time for people who supported their local club, no matter how small, and in doing so contributed to the local community, in pubs, cafes and shops.
As my post above states, I include myself in that, an out of towner.
02 Sep 2026 19:11:40
I doubt it, Rome. By the sounds, Lassic’s ancestors built Shankly’s house, street and probably his Lego sets.
02 Sep 2026 20:00:48
Liverpool's 1st manager comes from 10mins up the road from me and his house is still partially standing on 1 of my relation's land.
Probably makes me a better fan than a scouser.... ???
02 Sep 2026 22:26:17
It’s a totally different paradigm now compared to when my dad decreed I would be a Liverpool fan like him.
Back in the good old days, fans and the club were more unified, clubs depending on their fans.
Now billionaire corporations buy our clubs and they don’t really give 2 shiny ones about us; they’re protecting their asset.
Being a fan these days is just totally different.
There’s never been a definition of a good fan or a scale of level of fandom.