Mariners Game #20 Preview and Discussion: SEA at SDP
Mariners face Padres tonight in Game #20 after tough loss.

Liverpool's season has ended trophyless after a Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, as Ryan Gravenberch highlighted the team's significant failure. Head coach Arne Slot's optimistic outlook clashes with the harsh reality of the club's struggles and the importance of upcoming matches for securing Champions League qualification.
âThe failure is big,â said Ryan Gravenberch as he digested the Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain that ensured Liverpoolâs season will finish trophyless. It was a more appropriate description of the teamâs plight than Arne Slotâs insistence the future looks bright and a reality the head coach cannot avoid whether Champions League qualification for next season is secured or not. As it must be.
Failure is unthinkable for a club whose business model depends on its lucrative revenue streams and a team that, 12 months ago, was about to win the Premier League title at a canter and was then remodelled to the tune of almost ÂŁ450m. With the top five all qualifying, Chelsea fading from the conversation under Liam Rosenior and a five-point advantage over Brentford and Everton with six games to play, it would be a humiliating final blow for Liverpool to miss out. Slotâs defence for getting a third season to manage Liverpoolâs transition would be holed.
Sundayâs Merseyside derby, the first to be staged at Hill Dickinson Stadium, has assumed huge importance for Slot. But not simply in the aftermath of Tuesdayâs Champions League exit. The visit to Everton represents the conclusion of what was long considered a defining period for him, a sequence of five matches in 16 days that would determine Liverpoolâs course in the FA Cup and Champions League plus strengthen â or undermine â their claims on a top-five finish. The first four matches have yielded three defeats, two competition exits by an aggregate scoreline of 8-0, two differing gameplans against PSG that did not work and one league win inspired by the 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha.
Liverpoolâs sporting director, Richard Hughes, who hired Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth, was present at Anfield to witness the side perform valiantly against the European champions, but badly underperform their xG â in this case 1.94 â yet again. Repeated shortcomings are not a bad luck story. The misfortune was to lose Hugo EkitikĂ© to a suspected achilles injury when he collapsed with no one near him in the 27th minute. Should Liverpoolâs worst fears be confirmed in the coming days EkitikĂ©, one of the few pluses from last summerâs expensive intake, would be unlikely to play again this year.
Hughes will have heard the applause for Liverpoolâs efforts that greeted the final whistle. There was more support for the team and their performance inside the ground, where it matters, than on social media, where it does not. He will recognise EkitikĂ©âs injury is the latest in a long line of problems that have conspired against the club this season. The absence of their leading goalscorer would mean the new ÂŁ320m front line that sent expectations soaring â Alexander Isak, EkitikĂ© and Florian Wirtz â have played 115 minutes together by the seasonâs end.
Hughes would also have seen that Slotâs decision to start Isak for the first time in four months against PSG did not pay off. Nor did the decision to switch to a back five for the first and only time in his Liverpool reign in the first leg at Parc des Princes. Slotâs explanation for starting Isak was logical â the striker had 45 to 55 minutes in him and might deliver the early goal that Liverpool craved â but five touches summed up the forwardâs minimal impact before his half-time substitution. A Champions League quarter-final against the best side in Europe is not the place for experimentation.

Alexander Isak (right) battles for the ball with the PSG defender Marquinhos. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
âThe good thing is Alex is back,â said Slot after the second leg. At the time it sounded like a ÂŁ125m lead balloon being dropped on to a miserable night, misplaced positivity to accompany Slotâs assertion: âThe future looks very bright for this team, for this club. We have showed we can compete with the champions of Europe in our stadium.â
But with EkitikĂ© out and Liverpool stumbling through the run-in, in keeping with the entire season, a fit Isak could prove the difference between Champions League qualification and humiliation. Isak and Wirtz are overdue repayments on their exorbitant transfer fees, even taking into account the formerâs serious injury, having massively underwhelmed. It is on Slot to get that supply line functioning in the final six games.
Gravenberch made no attempt to sugarcoat Liverpoolâs exit in an interview with the Dutch media outlet Ziggo Sport. Asked whether it was acceptable to be eliminated by a team as impressive as PSG, the Liverpool midfielder said: âNo, actually not. Itâs disappointing. We have to pick ourselves up as Sunday is waiting. We still have six matches in the league and we just want to play in the Champions League next year as well. We have to give it our all.
âWe have been a bit unlucky whereas last year we got a lot of things going our way. This year it feels weâre only getting setbacks â [conceding] a lot of goals in the last minute, not finishing our own chances when we are playing well. Itâs just a tough season ⊠ultimately you want to win a trophy but if you donât have that in a season like the one weâre having now, you can only learn from it.â
Ryan Gravenberch described the failure of Liverpool's season as significant following their Champions League defeat.
Liverpool remodeled their team to the tune of almost ÂŁ450 million last summer.
The Merseyside derby is crucial for Liverpool as it could determine their chances of finishing in the top five and securing Champions League qualification.
Hugo Ekitiké is facing a suspected Achilles injury that could sideline him for the rest of the season.
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