Liquid bench shox and adreN

Liquid have announced the removal of player Richard "shox" Papillon and coach Eric "adreN" Hoag from the squad's active lineup. These moves come after a lackluster 2022 for the North American team, failing to secure promising results at big events throughout the first half of the year.

shox's move to the bench will not come as a surprise to most, considering shox's consistently poor performances with Liquid made him a prominent target for the chopping block. Additionally, shortly after Liquid's 0-3 exit from the PGL Antwerp Major Legends stage, George Geddes of Dot Esports reported that the Frenchman was set to depart the roster at his own request.

While shox's removal from the active lineup has been expected for quite some time now, the benching of coach adreN comes completely out of left field. adreN coached Liquid during their historic run in the summer of 2019, helping them secure the Intel Grand Slam, but was removed from the squad after Liquid struggled to put up results in 2020. adreN made his return to Liquid in early 2021, after Liquid continued to struggle with Jason "moses" O'Toole at the helm. The benching of adreN here indicates that Liquid may be interested in trying a fresh approach, something that would be welcome considering the team's subpar 2022.

Liquid's roster is now:

• Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski

• Keith "NAF" Markovic

• Josh "oSee" Ohm

• Nick "nitr0" Canella

• Richard "shox" Papillon (Inactive)

• Eric "adreN" Hoag (Inactive Coach)

Regardless of who Liquid manages to secure as their new fifth, the team will need to have it sorted out before July 7th, when their campaign in IEM Cologne begins.