For 10 second-half minutes at Anfield, it was almost as if no time had passed at all. As the home supporters cheered and swirled their scarves in the air in homage to Dominik Szoboszlai‘s sublime free kick against Manchester City, it was like the Liverpool of last season had returned, intent on reminding the watching world of their status as Premier League champions.
By the time the full-time whistle blew, however, the only celebrations were coming from the away end as the travelling City fans revelled in their team’s first league double over Liverpool since 1937, courtesy of late goals from Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland. It was a sight much more in keeping with the story of the Reds’ sorry campaign.
Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Pep Guardiola’s side was their eighth loss of the season in the top flight. They have now won just six of their last 20 league matches and face an uphill battle to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League, with five points separating them from fourth-placed Manchester United.
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There are mitigating factors behind that dismal form but, for head coach Arne Slot, there can be no escaping the fact that the numbers do not make for pleasant reading. Perhaps the biggest worry for the Dutchman, though, is that the culture of unerring conviction and fealty cultivated by his predecessor Jürgen Klopp is now under serious threat.
Following his appointment in 2015, Klopp recognised the disillusionment within the Liverpool fanbase and called for supporters to change from “doubters to believers.” At times this season, it has felt as though those reserves of belief — both on the pitch and in the stands — have emptied.
Arguably Slot’s toughest challenge now is getting fans back onside. But is it already too late for him to turn the tide?
Alarming drop-off puts Champions League hopes in danger
When Liverpool beat Merseyside rivals Everton back in September, they made it five wins from five in the Premier League. At that point, off the back of a record-breaking summer spending spree, the champions were billed as the overwhelming favourites to defend their crown, even if their habit of winning games late prompted questions about the sustainability of their success.
Those queries have ultimately been proved prophetic, with Liverpool now closer to the relegation zone (16 points) than they are to league leaders Arsenal (17 points). For a team that won the title by a 10-point margin last term, it has been an alarming drop-off.
Over the past 20 games, Slot’s side have picked up fewer points than 11 Premier League teams, including Fulham, Brighton & Hove Albion and Everton. In the same timeframe, they have earned just three points more than Nottingham Forest and four more than West Ham United — both of whom are at serious risk of relegation.
Sunday’s late collapse against City means Liverpool have dropped eight points in stoppage time this season; the most by any team in the league. That propensity for finishing games poorly would perhaps not be so costly if the Reds were fast starters, but they have scored just three goals inside the first half-hour of league games all season, with two of those coming in the same match (the 2-1 win over Everton in September).
1:27
Leboeuf backs VAR decision after ‘clear mistake’ from Szoboszlai
Frank Leboeuf and Craig Burley believe VAR made the right call to disallow Manchester City’s goal and award Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai a red card in their dramatic Premier League clash.
It was the same story against City, who dominated the first half before Liverpool came to life after the break and deservedly took the lead through Szoboszlai in the 74th minute. When Silva equalised 10 minutes later, though, the sense of deflation inside Anfield was palpable and, when goalkeeper Alisson Becker needlessly brought down Matheus Nunes to hand City a penalty in stoppage time, some fans had already started heading for the exits.
In many ways, the game served as a microcosm of Liverpool’s season. Individual errors, insufficient squad depth and controversial officiating — City’s Marc Guéhi escaped a red card for a last-man challenge on Mohamed Salah before Szoboszlai was dismissed for pulling back Haaland when clean through on goal — all played a part.
But while some of those factors were beyond Slot’s control, he is at least partly culpable for Liverpool’s inability to sustain and exert their dominance, both in individual games and across the season as a whole.
Lack of depth hurting Liverpool despite summer spending spree
One of Liverpool’s most profound issues this season was magnified even before a ball was kicked against City. When the team sheets were circulated at Anfield, the disparity in the quality of the two benches was glaring, with Curtis Jones and Andy Robertson the only Liverpool substitutes to have started four or more league games this season.
City, by contrast, were able to call on Rayan Cherki, Rúben Dias and Nathan Aké from the bench, while Phil Foden, Tijjani Reijnders and Nico González remained unused substitutes.
Considering Liverpool spent close to £450 million in the summer, their squad does not look equipped for the rigours of a Premier League season. However, it should also be noted that the Reds’ recruitment drive was partly financed by player exits, with the club having recouped a guaranteed £258.5 million (rising to £294.5 million with add-ons) during Slot’s tenure.
As a result, Liverpool’s squad depth is arguably weaker than it was last season, with star men Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz among those struggling to maintain the required intensity for a full 90 minutes.
Those struggles have been compounded by a host of serious injuries to key players, including striker Alexander Isak, who himself accounts for £125 million of Liverpool’s extensive summer outlay. At the other end of the pitch, Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley are both out for the season with knee injuries, while Joe Gomez and Jeremie Frimpong are also sidelined.
With so few options, the decision not to furnish Slot with any January signings seems illogical, particularly when established players such as Salah, Cody Gakpo and Alexis Mac Allister are failing to replicate last season’s scintillating form.
For all of Liverpool’s physical deficiencies this term, it is also clear that psychological frailties haven’t helped their cause. It is disingenuous to assess the current state of play at Anfield without acknowledging the tragedy Slot and his players are having to navigate.
The impact of the death of Diogo Jota last summer is unquantifiable and it should certainly not be used as a blanket excuse for all of Liverpool’s troubles. That said, comments from vice-captain Robertson after Scotland‘s World Cup qualification in November were reflective of the emotional turmoil Slot’s squad have had to endure in recent months, while former Liverpool goalkeeper CaoimhÃn Kelleher spoke candidly last week about some of the challenges his old teammates are continuing to face.
“I find it a bit strange and a bit difficult when I hear people speaking about the players at Liverpool and the performances, because I don’t think this season is even important from a football aspect for them,” Kelleher. who joined Brentford in the summer, told The Independent. “It’s a very difficult time for them, a difficult season, with circumstances that people probably aren’t taking into account too much.”
Still, football at the elite level is a ruthless beast, with patience and sympathy often in short supply. For all of the extenuating circumstances, Slot will know it is what he does next — not what he has done before — that will determine his standing in the eyes of some supporters.
Slot haunted by ghosts of managers past and future
When managers find themselves under pressure, talk often turns to them having lost the dressing room. But losing the backing of the fanbase can be equally as damaging when it comes to a coach’s long-term job security.
After the defeat to City, a number of supporters did stay behind to applaud Slot and his players as they left the pitch, and the Dutchman is yet to be subjected to the same level of in-person animosity directed at, for example, Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank, who is also enduring a turbulent campaign in North London.
Twice at Anfield this season — following the 4-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven and the 1-1 draw with Burnley — a minority of fans have booed at the final whistle, but the levels of discontent inside the stadium are yet to match the groundswell of hostility aimed at Slot on social media.
In December, a BBC Sport investigation showed that Slot — alongside then-Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim — was the most common target of online abuse in the men’s top flight. That level of vitriol has only intensified in recent weeks. Sources have told ESPN the feeling inside Anfield is that some of the criticism directed at the manager has been personal and unfair.
Slot remains a title-winning coach and has retained the support of the Liverpool hierarchy, even if the Champions League humbling at the hands of PSV in November did ring some alarm bells internally. The decision last week to publish an in-house roundtable featuring Slot in conversation with sporting director Richard Hughes and CEO Billy Hogan has been interpreted in some quarters as a public endorsement of the Dutchman, while Liverpool under owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) have rarely been trigger-happy when it comes to making big decisions about the club’s future.
Even so, there can be no denying that faith within the fanbase is wavering, with many of Liverpool’s performances this season having done 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 atmosphere of Anfield to bend games to his team’s will. That Liverpool have already lost five games at home this season suggests that the buy-in from supporters is perhaps not quite as emphatic nor as unconditional as it was under Slot’s predecessor.
Indeed, Klopp’s untouchable status continues to pose further problems for Slot, whose more reserved, straight-talking character has been difficult for some fans to reconcile with. Add to the fact that former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso is now available following his departure from Real Madrid and it is hard not to feel as if Slot is being haunted by the ghosts of managers both past and future.
“That is what you have to accept if you are a manager that is not winning enough games,” the Liverpool boss said last month when asked about fan criticism. “Even if you have won something there is still room for criticism, which to a certain extent is normal because we are in a new season and I was the first to say to the players, ‘We have to forget last season.’
“I think it is fair to judge me on this season and not on last season.”
For Slot, the weight of that judgment seems to be growing heavier by the week. If he is unable to quickly restore belief at Anfield, the burden could soon be too weighty to shrug off.
