Mutiny on the Kop?

 Troubled Liverpool must qualify for the Champions League or risk a fan divide.

‘Mutiny’ is not a word to be thrown around lightly in football, and certainly not at Anfield.

The place will no doubt present a deafening, passionate and united front when Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) comes to town next week.

But it will be a little bit less so when a protest about ticket prices is planned for the Fulham game on Saturday.

And even for PSG, will it be the seething cauldron required to help overturn a 2-0 deficit and deliver one of its fabled European nights?

Two-nil is nothing if Liverpool hit their straps.

After all, four goals were needed to knock out Lionel Messi’s Barcelona – and they were duly delivered.

But that was a different Liverpool. It was Jurgen Klopp’s rampant side that went on to become European champions.

Poor Messi didn’t know what had hit him.

If they were the mentality monsters, today’s Liverpool are mentality midgets.

Skipper Virgil van Dijk admitted they “gave up” against Manchester City in the FA Cup last Saturday.

And they were fortunate that City, to use a cricket term, “declared” at 4-0.

At least the players were decent enough to carry out their own post-mortem that night.

It was also the occasion when Dominik Szoboszlai called out his own fans, and Hugo Ekitike briefly donned a City shirt after being subbed.

Ironic that the two “offenders” were the season’s two best players, but Ekitike’s mistake amounted to nothing and was soon corrected.

Szoboszlai’s show of frustration should not stop him from becoming Player of the Year.

But the point that fans, who are feeling a growing disconnect from the club, are making is that a Scouser wouldn’t have done either.

There were no locals – or any Brits at all – in the starting XI in Paris and the sense that the younger imports are not immersed in Liverpool lore is growing.

Almost all the players live outside the city, many in another county (rural Cheshire), and have little affinity with Liverpool or its people.

There’s hardly a Liverpudlian on the coaching staff while the owners are ensconced in Boston, an ocean away.

Following the Reds is a quasi-religious experience for many fans, but they are sensing that it is merely transactional for the squad.

This is only heightened when Fenway Sports Group (FSG) ignores pleas by fan groups not to increase ticket prices.

Spirit of Shankly, who are the real soul of the club, are demonstrating inside and outside the ground on Saturday.

This is far from the first time the culture clash over pricing has reared its ugly head.

Americans are used to paying more for sport that Europeans, and sometimes the owners seem to forget where the club is located.

A noisy but growing minority will be shouting for Slot to go, with Xavi Alonso’s name on quite a few lips.

Even Steven Gerrard is being touted by a few, if only as an interim until the end of the season.

Florian Wirtz insisted the players are still with the manager before the game, and it would be unthinkable to sack a title-winner before the end of this campaign.

Going back to the Big Spend, which now can only be called a disaster, it did feel un-Liverpool-like at the time.

All the acquisitions have ability but were they the right fit, price and physicality? And were they all really needed?

But we were constantly reminded that the club could afford it because it had hardly spent a penny in the preceding window.

The reasoning was financial, not football. Did Slot want them all? Did he want two strikers of similar ilk?

Did enough thought go into how lightweight Wirtz was? Ditto Jeremie Frimpong, a supposed defender!

Even the previously untouchable Michael Edwards, once of the Midas touch in player recruitment, must be questioned.

If there was so much money to play with, why let Luis Diaz go just because Bayern Munich made a good offer for a player of his age?

After Klopp himself, he’s the guy Liverpool are missing the most.

He gave another stunning reminder of his worth against Real Madrid this week.

And although Edwards did well to secure Gorgi Mamardashvili, another Georgian could have been a game-changer.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was at his brilliant best for PSG and you feel, with his compatriot in the bag, he may have been persuaded to join him.

He could have played on the opposite wing to Salah as he can play on either flank.

With the benefit of hindsight, it seems the Egyptian King was given a contract too many.

To have let Salah go after a sensational three-quarters of a season would have caused protests of a different kind.

And this is not to blame the club, but his form dropped off dramatically just over a year ago.

The suspicion that Slot feels that Salah has little more to offer was confirmed when the Egyptian was not even among the four substitutes brought on as late as the 76th minute.

And that they included 18-year-old Trey Nyoni must have felt like the final insult.

It may well have caused divisions in the squad to widen.

The Paris game’s stats make for painful reading.

PSG completed 696 passes to 198 by Liverpool. They had 72% possession. They totally bossed the game and could have won by six or seven.

Arne Slot admitted, “We were lucky.” Ousman Dembele should have had a hat-trick, PSG should have had a penalty and Mamardashvili made several great saves.

The tie is just about still alive, but there’s still much to play for.

If this year’s trophy is out of reach, they must still qualify for next year’s.

Failing to do so after being champions risks the club hierarchy and fan base being split apart.

And that would be another disaster. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.