Team Liquid CSGO recycling program in full swing and hopefully effective

Team Liquid CSGO performances has been up and down in recent times. However, it would be an understatement to say they have been stumbling as of late. Having been unable to find consistency in the online era, they have now gone through a couple of roster moves with discordant results.

With Grim replacing Nitr0 and FalleN replacing Twistzz, Adren will now fill Moses’ role as coach. Though we will wait and see how this plays out, there is a big question surrounding Liquid. Does the core of this team have what it takes to get back to their former glory?

The Core Three

When Team Liquid won the Grand Slam in 2019, they were absolutely on fire. Since then, the only players that remain are EliGE, Stewie2K and NAF. The core of this team has always remained consistent, but can’t seem to find the missing pieces. There are a few questions while keeping that in mind. After this iteration with Adren is given a chance, at what point does the Team Liquid CSGO responsible consider removing one of the remaining core players?

Stewie2K’s performance cannot be judged too harshly as he had been making the transition to IGL (In-Game-Leader).  However, that excuse has come to an end. EliGE has still been a consistent top performer and has not appeared to be a problem. Could NAF be the problem? Once again, the last of the core three is playing up to par.

The question must then be asked..

Will re-signing Adren  help the team?

Liquid co-CEO Victor Goossens had this to say about the Adren signing, as reported by HLTV.

“You don’t always know what you have until you don’t, and I think that is the case with regards to Eric,” “What he brought to the team strategically was just incredible. Now that we have the roster that we have today, we feel strongly that Eric is the coach for us to take us to the next level.”

The implications of this quote are that Liquid has been lacking in a strategical sense since Adren last left the Liquid CSGO roster. This also aligns with the performances of their core three since Adren left. They simply have never been the same tactically, though they have performed well individually. Generally, people are skeptical of coach signings improving the team. In this situation, when looking at how Liquid have not been able to break into the top echelon of the scene lately, one must consider the possibility that Adren really did make a big difference in their tactical depth.

New tools in Adren’s tool belt

Since Grim and FalleN were not parts of the Team Liquid CSGO team when Adren was the coach, he will be entering into a new team dynamic than the one he left. One big positive for Liquid is that Adren should have a good shot at teaching Grim the skills he is missing. As Grim is a good aimer, Adren can focus his time on improving the synergy and understanding of the game and help him level up in this regard.

On the other side, we have FalleN, sporting a bad track record where coaches are concerned since winning two majors with LG and SK.

Having brought many coaches into his teams and scapegoating them when things don’t work out, he is the wild-card in this equation. Since he is the only one on the team who has won a major, his mentality could be that he knows more than his coaches. While this may be true, hopefully he can realize Adren has something to offer.

With North American Counter Strike as unstable as it is, one could argue that this is the Last Chance Saloon for this squad. Can Team Liquid CSGO see a return to the top? Liquid is still in the top ten teams in the world on our top CSGO teams rankings. But if their new-old coach doesn’t make the team shine by the time IEM Cologne rolls around, we might see them spiral downwards into oblivion.

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