Liverpool’s 2022-23 season is one their supporters will want to forget quickly.
Indeed, attention has already turned to the next one. The thirst for summer transfer news is growing, the preseason schedule is taking shape and the announcement of 2023-24’s fixtures is only around the corner (Thursday, June 15).
But is there optimism or concern for the coming campaign based on the events of the past 10 months? The Athletic found out by surveying you, our Liverpool subscribers, on everything from your thoughts on Jurgen Klopp, your faith in the Fenway Sports Group (FSG), to who you want to see in the red shirt come September.
The 2022-23 assessment
Before looking forward, first we must look back — sorry. Liverpool went from near-quadruple winners in 2021-22 to no trophies and missing out on Champions League qualification, their fifth-place finish sending them into the Europa League instead. Expectations were high entering the season, and boosted by a Community Shield win over champions Manchester City, but that turned out to be one of very few high points.
It is no surprise that, using a one to five scale, with one being very bad and five very good, over half of respondents (51.4 per cent) gave Liverpool’s 2022-23 a rating of just two.
That is likely to have been boosted by the way they ended the season (an 11-game unbeaten run including seven wins in a row), which prompted a more positive outlook heading into the summer, and an identity to build on. There were almost no votes for five and only 2.4 per cent gave their season four.
Staying on 2022-23 for just a bit longer, there was little debate about who you felt was the club’s player of the season, with Alisson receiving almost nine out of every 10 votes cast. It has been an excellent campaign for the Brazilian goalkeeper, who has had plenty of work to do given the frailties in front of him. Without the 30-year-old, it is worrying to think where Liverpool may have finished.
One cheesed-off participant gave the following answer: “No one”.
Yet Liverpool have experienced similar disappointment before, such as in 2020-21, when defending champions Liverpool found themselves in a late-season battle for Champions League qualification, similar to this year. And they bounced back from that to be on the cusp of the quadruple, winning two trophies and being beaten by a nose as runners-up in two more.
Perhaps that explains why over half of respondents continue to have faith in Klopp to get the ship sailing back in the right direction, with 89.5 per cent selecting four or five when asked if they were happy with the team’s current manager.
