This is what parenthood feels like.

When things aren’t going well, you make adjustments. Things improve. And just when you think you’ve turned the corner, the backend gets loose, and things spin out of control again.

I’m talking about Liverpool, of course. What else could it be?

When they last played three weeks ago, a two-one victory in the Champions League against Dutch giants Ajax, Liverpool gave the impression their shaky early season form had been sorted. Hope bubbled eternal once again. The early season form a momentary blip along the way to challenging for more titles.

Boy, were we wrong.

Against Brighton, at Anfield on a sunny Saturday afternoon, that early season form was back. An early goal conceded, Liverpool was lucky only to be down two goals when Bobby Firmino pulled one back in the 33rd minute. If not for superb goalkeeping from Alisson, the mighty Reds probably would have been. A leveler from the Brazilian number 9 followed by a go-ahead own goal from Adam Webster put Jurgen’s Reds in the driver’s seat. But in the 83rd minute, Leandro Trossard popped up with his 3rd to keep it even.

At best, the squad was disjointed. At worst, shambolic. If not for the match against Napoli, it could compete for the worst 90 minutes of football in the Klopp era.

The effort and intensity gone, not even there like it was when they struggled earlier in the season. A friend said that Van Dijk looked human. And the troubling thing is that’s the way he’s looked all season.

Trent has regressed to the mean. He’s merely a consummate professional as opposed to something otherworldly.

Mo. Where on earth is Mo? It’s like he’s disappeared. The only problem is we all see him, trotting along on the right wing, isolated, obscured, mired in obscurity.

Gone is the belief that something will happen. Gone is the feeling of inevitability. Gone is knowing the Reds will get all three points—by grit or wit.

Shaky. Confused. Disorganized. Battered. Found out.

Fans grow impatient. Myself, I want to see a response. The title is likely done after Brighton. No chance of catching City or Arsenal for that matter—even if we beat both of them over the next two weekends.

What happens tomorrow? What happens on the weekend? Do they have time to sort it out? I thought three weeks would be enough. Clearly not.

What happens if this is it? What if they don’t turn it around?

I’ll still wake up on the weekends to watch the early morning matches from the comfort of my aging couch and plan my work around midweek matches, but I can’t imagine I’ll do so without the normal enthusiasm. It’ll be done out of obligation, out of responsibility as a supporter. Because fandom means you stick with it even when you’re disappointed, even at the nadir.

Hope. It might be all we have to us through this season.