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What to do?
Multiple authors
For 10 minutes in the second half at Anfield, it was as if no time had passed at all. As the home team’s fans cheered and waved their scarves in the air in honor of Dominik Szoboszlai’s stunning free-kick against Manchester City, it seemed as if Liverpool had returned last season, intent on reminding the watching world of their status as Premier League champions.
However, by the time the final whistle blew, the only celebrations came from the away end as traveling City fans enjoyed their side’s first league double over Liverpool since 1937, thanks to late goals from Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland. It was a scene more in keeping with the story of the Reds’ sorry campaign.
Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat against Pep Guardiola’s team was their eighth loss this season in the First Division. They have now won just six of their last 20 league games and face an uphill battle to qualify for next season’s Champions League, with five points separating them from fourth-placed Manchester United.
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There are mitigating factors behind this poor form, but for coach Arne Slott, there is no escaping the fact that the numbers don’t make for interesting reading. Perhaps the biggest worry for the Dutchman is that the unerring culture of conviction and loyalty instilled by his predecessor Jurgen Klopp is now under serious threat.
Following his appointment in 2015, Klopp recognized the disappointment within Liverpool’s fan base and called on fans to switch from “skeptics to believers”. At times this season, it has seemed as if that reservoir of faith – both on the pitch and in the stands – has been emptied.
Arguably the toughest challenge facing Slot now is getting fans back into the arena. But is it already too late for him to turn things around?
A worrying decline puts Champions League hopes in jeopardy
When Liverpool beat rivals Everton on Merseyside in September, they made it five wins from five in the Premier League. At that stage, on the back of a record-breaking summer spending spree, the champions were touted as favorites to defend their title, even if their habit of winning games late raised questions about the sustainability of their success.
These inquiries have ultimately proven prophetic, with Liverpool now closer to the relegation zone (16 points) than they are league leaders Arsenal (17 points). For a team that won the title by 10 points last season, it was a worrying decline.
Over their last 20 games, Slot’s side have earned fewer points than 11 Premier League teams, including Fulham, Brighton & Hove Albion and Everton. In the same time frame, they have earned just three points more than Nottingham Forest and four more than West Ham United – both of which are in serious danger of relegation.
Sunday’s late collapse against City means Liverpool have dropped eight points in stoppage time this season. The most of any team in the league. Perhaps this tendency to end games poorly would not have been so costly if the Reds were quick in the starting XI, but they have scored just three goals within the first half-hour in league matches all season, two of them coming in the same game (a 2-1 win over Everton in September).
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Leboeuf supports VAR decision after ‘clear error’ by Szoboszlai
Frank Leboeuf and Craig Burley believe that the VAR made the right decision to disallow Manchester City’s goal and give Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai a red card in their exciting confrontation in the English Premier League.
It was the same story against City, who dominated the first half before Liverpool came alive after the break and took a deserved lead through Szoboszlai in the 74th minute. However, when Silva equalized 10 minutes later, the deflation was palpable inside Anfield, and when goalkeeper Alisson Becker needlessly brought down Mateusz Nunes to give City a stoppage-time penalty, some fans had already begun to head for the exits.
In many ways, the match was a microcosm of Liverpool’s season. Individual fouls, insufficient squad depth and controversial refereeing – City’s Mark Guehi escaped a red card for a tackle on Mohamed Salah before Szoboszlai was sent off for clearing Haaland when he was clean on target – all played a role.
But while some of these factors were beyond Slott’s control, he is at least partly responsible for Liverpool’s inability to maintain and exercise their dominance, both in individual matches and throughout the season as a whole.
Lack of depth is hurting Liverpool despite their summer spending spree
One of Liverpool’s deepest problems this season was magnified even before the ball was kicked against City. When the team cards were dealt at Anfield, the disparity in the quality of the bench was stark, with Curtis Jones and Andy Robertson the only Liverpool substitutes to have started four or more league games this season.
By contrast, City were able to call up Ryan Cherkey, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake from the bench, while Phil Foden, Tijani Reinders and Nico Gonzalez remained unused substitutes.
Considering Liverpool spent nearly £450m in the summer, their squad does not look equipped for the rigors of the Premier League season. However, it is also worth noting that the Reds’ recruitment drive has been partly funded by player exits, with the club taking back a guaranteed sum of £258.5m (rising to £294.5m with add-ons) during Slott’s tenure.
As a result, Liverpool’s squad depth is arguably weaker than it was last season, with stars Hugo Ekiteke and Florian Wirtz among those struggling to maintain the intensity required for the full 90 minutes.
These struggles have been exacerbated by a host of serious injuries to key players, including striker Alexander Isak, who himself accounts for £125m of Liverpool’s extensive summer spending. At the other end of the pitch, Giovanni Leoni and Connor Bradley are both out for the season due to knee injuries, while Joe Gomez and Jeremy Frimpong are also out.
With so few options, the decision not to provide Slot with any signings in January seems illogical, especially when established players such as Salah, Cody Jacobo and Alexis McAllister fail to replicate last season’s scintillating form.
For all Liverpool’s physical shortcomings this season, it is also clear that psychological weakness has not helped their cause. It is disingenuous to assess the current state of play at Anfield without acknowledging the tragedy its players have had to overcome.
The impact of Diogo Jota’s death last summer is immeasurable, and certainly should not be used as a blanket excuse for all of Liverpool’s woes. However, comments made by vice-captain Robertson after Scotland’s World Cup qualifiers in November were reflective of the emotional turmoil that Slott’s side have had to endure in recent months, while former Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher spoke frankly last week about some of the challenges his old teammates still face.
Kelleher: “I find it a bit strange and difficult when I hear people talking about Liverpool players and performance, because I don’t think this season is even important in a football sense for them.” He joined Brentford in the summer, he told The Independent. “It’s a very difficult time for them, a difficult season, with circumstances that people perhaps don’t take into consideration very much.”
However, football at elite level is an unforgiving beast, with patience and empathy often lacking. Despite all the extenuating circumstances, Slott will know that it’s what he does next — not what he’s done before — that will determine his standing in the eyes of some supporters.
A hole haunted by the ghosts of managers past and future
When managers find themselves under pressure, talk often turns to them having lost the dressing room. But losing fanbase support can be just as damaging when it comes to a coach’s long-term job security.
After the defeat to City, a number of fans stayed behind to applaud Slot and his players as they left the field, and the Dutchman has yet to experience the same level of personal hostility directed at, for example, Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank, who is also enduring a turbulent season in north London.
Twice at Anfield this season – after a 4-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven and a 1-1 draw with Burnley – a minority of fans booed at the final whistle, but the levels of discontent inside the stadium have yet to match the wave of hostility aimed at Slott on social media.
In December, a BBC Sport investigation showed that Slott – along with then Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim – was the most common target of online abuse in the men’s top flight. This level of vitriol has only intensified in recent weeks. Sources told ESPN that the feeling inside Anfield is that some of the criticism directed at the manager has been personal and unfair.
Slott remains a title-winning manager and retains the support of Liverpool’s hierarchy, even if a Champions League defeat at the hands of PSV Eindhoven last November raised some alarm bells internally. Last week’s decision to publish an internal roundtable featuring Slott in conversation with sporting director Richard Hughes and chief executive Billy Hogan was interpreted in some quarters as a general endorsement of the Dutchman, while Liverpool under Fenway Sports Group (FSG) have rarely been happy when it comes to making big decisions about the club’s future.
However, it is undeniable that confidence within the fanbase is wavering, with many of Liverpool’s performances this season doing little to quell the growing sense of apathy in the stands.
Klopp’s superpower during his nine years on Merseyside was his ability to harness the Anfield atmosphere to bend matches to his team’s will. Liverpool having already lost five home games this season suggests that fans’ support may not be as certain or unconditional as it was under Slott’s predecessor.
Indeed, Klopp’s untouchable status continues to pose more problems for Slott, whose more reserved and outspoken personality has been difficult for some fans to reconcile. Add to that the fact that former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso is now available following his departure from Real Madrid, and it’s hard not to feel as if the ghosts of managers past and future are haunting Slot.
“That’s what you have to accept if you’re a coach who doesn’t win enough games,” the Liverpool manager said last month when asked about fan criticism. He added: “Even if I win something, there is still room for criticism, which is somewhat normal because we are in a new season and I was the first to say to the players: We have to forget last season.”
He added: “I think it is fair to judge me based on this season and not last season.”
For Slott, the burden of this judgment seems to grow heavier as the week goes on. If he cannot quickly restore confidence at Anfield, the burden may become too heavy to ignore.
