How the national media reacted to Liverpool's goalless draw against Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon
Bradley Barcola of Liverpool reacts after a missed chance during the Premier League match against Fulham at Anfield on September 12 2026
Bradley Barcola of Liverpool reacts after a missed chance during the Premier League match against Fulham at Anfield on September 12 2026
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Honestly, it really happened. Liverpool continued their erratic start to the season with a truly dismal goalless Premier League draw at home to winless Fulham on Saturday.
There was precious little action of note on an afternoon when many of the issues that dogged the Reds last term were painfully evident to a bored Anfield crowd, many of whom left early.
It made for a 90 minutes that felt about 91 minutes too long. And while the ECHO was in attendance and provided our usual level of coverage, here's how the national media viewed a forgettable event for Andoni Iraola's side.
Paul Joyce, once of this parish, wrote in The Times about how Liverpool were a bit of a mess.
"During a break in play in the opening half, Dominik Szoboszlai, his arms outstretched above his head, gesticulated urgently to the Liverpool dug-out in what seemed like a plea for instructions," he pens. "A few yards away, Alisson could be seen calling for calm.
"It proved that sort of afternoon for Liverpool. No one on the same page, wavelengths scrambled, a £364million attack rendered impotent and struggling to make any impression amid a collective malaise.
"A back-to-the-drawing-board day, then, for Andoni Iraola, who is still craving his first victory at Anfield in the Premier League, although perhaps the most instructive statistic was that Liverpool have won only four of their last 12 top flight home games."
James Sharpe of the Daily Mail basically thought Liverpool were rubbish.
"This was a shadow of the Liverpool from Wednesday night, where they came away deserved winners against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League," he says.
"This was a leggy, sloppy, uncertain Liverpool. Error-strewn and unsure of themselves. How much of it was because Iraola only made three changes from that midweek triumph? Not enough to excuse Florian Wirtz and the usually dependable Dominik Szoboszlai from either passing the ball straight out of play or frequently to the opposition.
"It was not the lack of recovery time that compelled Alisson to play the ball to Ryan Gravenberch inside the Liverpool box despite him being surrounded by two Fulham players and need Jeremy Jacquet to clear Gonzalo Garcia’s goal-bound strike off the line.
"For the rest of it, the sounds emanating from the stands were ever-increasing groans and cries of frustration. ‘Absolute garbage’ one spectator grumbled to anyone within earshot as he made his way home after the full-time whistle."
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Dominic King, another once of these parts, was another who pointed to the difference to Wednesday for Liverpool while writing in The Telegraph.
"Not even their most staunch supporter could argue that they should have beaten Fulham here and the realists, of whom there are many, would recognise that on another day they would have finished without even a point on an afternoon that brought much relief for Alvaro Arbeloa," he opines.
"The locals had turned up expecting one of those afternoons when Liverpool cut loose and win comfortably, but the grumbling at half-time gave a clear indication of how fitfully the hosts had played and how different everything had looked to Wednesday evening."
Finally, Richard Jolly of The Independent highlighted a remarkable fact about Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola.
"If the workload was new for the head coach, the outcome was familiar for both him and Liverpool," he writes. "They have drawn their first two league games at Anfield under Iraola, and they drew their last two under Arne Slot as well; meet the new boss, same as the old boss?
"Probably not, but remarkably Iraola has drawn half of his last 42 league matches. The concerning element for Liverpool is that all three of late, against Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and now Fulham, came against bottom half finishers last season."