There's a sense within the Liverpool dressing room that the players aren't performing to the standard expected by manager Arne Slot – though the Dutchman himself refuses to blame his squad.
The Reds have endured a dismal run of form recently, with their ninth defeat in 12 matches coming against PSV Eindhoven, marking their poorest spell in 72 years. Following their most recent Premier League loss – a defeat to Nottingham Forest seven days ago – tensions boiled over in the changing room at the final whistle, and it has since emerged that players are deeply unhappy with how the campaign is progressing.
It's believed the prevailing view amongst the squad is that Slot is being badly served by his players, who have fallen well short of expectations this season. Having invested heavily during the summer transfer window to strengthen Slot's options, few anticipated such a dramatic decline.
However, whilst Liverpool's players acknowledge their role in the team's current troubles, Slot has steadfastly refused to criticise his squad publicly.
Speaking at his press conference before Sunday's fixture at West Ham, he made his position abundantly clear when asked directly about the situation. "No, not at all," he responded, reports the Mirror.
"Although I do agree with you that our standards, and with our, I mean the team, [they] have not been of the standards we are used to and that we want.
"We think we can play better than we do. But last season when we did really well there was a lot of focus on certain individuals and I always said it should be about the team and the team makes the individuals look very good.
"If the opposite is happening, we should also look at the team and not the individuals. That's what it's about for me."
Liverpool manager Arne Slot
Liverpool manager Arne Slot is under mounting pressure (Image: Simon Stacpoole/Getty Images)
Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk has been candid about the team's performance on multiple occasions, while Curtis Jones has also expressed his frustration. There's a sense of dissatisfaction around Anfield.
Former Germany international Jurgen Klinsmann believes the squad needs to unite. Speaking to ESPN, he said: "It is a difficult task for any manager when you are in a negative spiral and tasked to turn it around. Do you look deep into your roster, look deep into your individual players and try to figure out why they are not performing at their usual level?".
"There are different ways. Some coaches do more training on the pitch, maybe they overwork them. Some coaches do less and say: 'Let's go out to the pub, have a couple of beers and get the spirit back!'".
"It's a mental problem, a mental block that leads to the fact they lose the one-v-one battles, they are always a step too late getting into the challenges and are not convinced of finishing things off. Maybe they are thinking we overdid it on big transfers in the summer and we have too many so-called future stars on our roster because, at the end of the day, only 11 can play.
Liverpool players have blamed themselves for the poor performances
Liverpool players have blamed themselves for the poor performances (Image: (Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images))
"You have three, four, five, six guys who are used to playing and they are not happy. When things go well, everything is quiet, everyone is all right and nobody says a bad word.
"But when things go wrong, behind the scenes people talk to each other, players talk to each other and you have to stop the negative spiral. I'm sure he will try to do everything he can to stop it, and then you can only come back with wins.
"They need a far more physical approach than they did recently. They need to fight first, then play wonderful football."