Liverpool go down as statistically one of the worst defending champions in Premier League history, finishing the 2025-26 campaign in fifth place with 60 points. It comes as no shock to hear that things weren't right behind the scenes at Anfield this term.
The Reds' season was thrown into early chaos after the tragic passing of Diogo Jota. The late Portuguese star's presence has still been felt at the club throughout the season, with players grieving their friend while trying to move forward, and supporters paying tribute to Jota by singing his song in the 20th minute of every single match.
The Athletic have reported the extreme difficulty everyone at the club felt when it came to getting on with things on the pitch. Departing full-back Andy Robertson even recently explained: "Football didn’t matter. We didn’t care about football for weeks. None of us wanted to train. That was the reality."
However, that wasn't the only factor contributing to a lower mood at the AXA training ground. Three Liverpool players were reportedly unhappy at different stages in the campaign, along with the obvious Mohamed Salah and Arne Slot fallout.
Liverpool Stars 'Not Happy' and 'Frustrated'
Dominik Szoboszlai
The Athletic report includes multiple 'dressing room sources' which reveal just some of the problems among The Reds' squad. "There was so much negativity, so much adversity and it’s been too much for a lot of players. How many times did we get back into games and then throw it away? It’s been blow after blow," one senior source claimed.
Dominik Szoboszlai, undoubtedly the club's best performer throughout the campaign, was 'not happy' to be deployed as a makeshift right-back at various times during the season. He wasn't the only one who wasn't too impressed with some of Arne Slot's decisions.
English midfielder Curtis Jones has often been a rotational option at Anfield, but the scouser in Liverpool's team is said to have been 'frustrated' with his lack of a long run in the engine room. Jones has been linked with a move to Inter Milan since January, and could be set to depart this summer.
Finally, Alexis Mac Allister felt he had been singled out for unfair criticism at times. The Argentine struggled to maintain his level from the title-winning campaign, and often received strong criticism from sections of the fan base.
New Signings Struggle to Have Impact at Liverpool
Liverpool's Florian Wirtz rubs his head.
Big things were expected when Liverpool added Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz and others to a title-winning team last summer. However, that trio only managed 118 minutes on the pitch together and only Ekitike lived up to expectations.
Wirtz, Isak and Mamardashvili are said to be quieter personalities around the training ground than Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who all left in the same transfer window.
The negative atmosphere throughout the season doesn't appear to have made life any easier for the new signings, who have all struggled to justify their enormous transfer fees. The hope will be that they kick on next term in a more settled environment.