I think it's the case that we've had quite a few fringe players and because of our continued success, many of them didn't play all that much. For example, Joe Gomez in 3 seasons played about as many games as VVD last season (OK OK not exact but not far off). A similar pattern can be observed with Curtis, Harvey, Kostas. Players like Naby and Ox haven't built up a good understanding due to their injuries and inconsistency either. What this means is that when we really need some of these fringe players to pick up the impetus amidst a crisis of form for such regulars like Fabinho, VVD, Trent, Hendo and Salah, then they simply aren't equipped to do it. Pretty unfair focus then goes on young players who've not had the longest time to adjust e.g., Darwin, Gakpo and even Konate.
In hindsight, we are looking pretty silly for tying some ageing stars into long, expensive contracts when their decline in form is so stark. We could have planned a bit better there.
In some ways the opportunity doesn't get any easier than at a club like LFC where you are incredibly well looked after, play with other top players, have a world class manager, excellent fans (in general) and wonderful facilities. There can be no real excuses for not making something of your abilities, and if one cannot show something of genuine quality after such opportunity, then the natural conclusion is that they aren't actually good enough and need to move on. Hopefully for them it works elsewhere, but we can't be hanging on to sentiment as you say.
