One decision from Arne Slot during the Brentford game completely baffled me:
How on earth did Cody Gakpo stay on the pitch for the full 90 minutes while Alexander Isak never even came on?
Honestly, it made absolutely no sense.
Liverpool desperately needed a goal late in the game.
The match was there to be won.
Anfield was crying out for energy and attacking quality.
Yet Slot left one of the most dangerous forwards on the bench while Gakpo continued struggling through another frustrating performance.
This is exactly the kind of decision that has driven supporters mad all season.
Fans are not simply angry because Liverpool dropped points.
They are frustrated because the same patterns keep happening repeatedly.
Slot continues trusting certain players regardless of form while refusing to change things when games clearly need fresh attacking ideas.
Gakpo worked hard as always.
Nobody questions his effort.
But realistically, he never truly looked dangerous enough throughout the game.
There were moments where his movement was slow, his finishing lacked conviction and Liverpool desperately needed more direct attacking threat.
Especially once Brentford equalised.
Meanwhile, Isak sat on the bench watching.
A player capable of:
- Running behind defences
- Stretching tired defenders
- Creating chaos centrally
- Producing moments of quality out of nothing
Exactly the type of player Liverpool needed during the final stages.
And yet he was never introduced.
Supporters inside Anfield were visibly confused by it.
You could feel frustration growing every minute Gakpo remained on the pitch while Liverpool lacked attacking urgency.
Especially after Slot had already angered many fans by taking Mohamed Salah off earlier in the match.
The most worrying part is that this no longer feels surprising anymore.
It feels predictable.
And that is a huge problem.
Too many Liverpool fans now watch games expecting Slot to make substitutions that feel reactive too late — or simply completely wrong altogether.
This is why so many supporters are losing faith in the project.
Because when a game is crying out for attacking change, Liverpool fans expect boldness.
Instead, too often they see hesitation and stubbornness.
And leaving Isak unused while Gakpo completed the full game felt like another perfect example of that frustration.
Jamie (The Kopite View)
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