Liverpool Are In Crisis – Can Arne Slot Still Rescue Them?

“I don’t have the answers, honestly, I don’t. It’s just unacceptable,” Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones told Irish broadcaster RTE on Wednesday night.

“I’m past being angry inside. I’m at the point now where I just don’t have the words.”

It was a commendable display of honesty from Jones and a telling insight about the turmoil currently enveloping Liverpool.

Arne Slot, presumably, shared those same feelings after watching his team getting trounced 4-1 at home by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.

Statistics seldom tell the whole story, but in Liverpool’s case they go a long way to paint a bleak picture.

Wednesday’s night defeat was the Reds’ ninth in their last 12 games in all competitions, their worst run of form since the 1953-54 season, which was also when they last lost three consecutive games by a margin of three goals.

In his first season in England, Slot led Liverpool to a record-equalling 20th league title last term and such was the club’s confidence in the Dutchman that he was backed to the tune of £446.5m ($598m) worth of signings in the summer.

It was a record level of spending for a club in a single transfer window, but it seemed justified as Liverpool won their first five Premier League fixtures of the season.

But six defeats over the last seven league games have raised questions over those signings and, more pertinently, over Slot’s suitability for the role.

Less than six months since he was the toast of Anfield, the Dutchman wore the look of a man resigned to his fate as Liverpool were booed off the pitch on Wednesday night.

Perception, as Slot conceded, can change swiftly in football.

“I don’t think it’s important if it is fair or not,” Slot said when asked whether he thought it was fair for his position to be up for debate after winning the Premier League last season.

“If any manager around the world loses football games, let alone as many as we’ve lost, it’s quite normal that people have an opinion.

“If that is fair or not fair, that’s for the people to judge. If you lose so many times, people start talking about that.”

Significantly, Slot insisted he retained the support of Liverpool’s hierarchy.

“I’ve been feeling safe. I’ve got a lot of support from above,” he said.

“If you’re working as a trainer and not doing well, questions are going to be asked.

“I’m feeling OK with my position — it’s not the first time I have been in a difficult situation but it’s time that we won a match again.

“I feel the trust.”

The reality is that Liverpool and Slot both look lost. The manner in which the defeat against PSV developed was entirely predictable, a case of playing all the wrong hits.

Ahead of the game, Virgil van Dijk had called for a back-to-basics approach, but here the Liverpool captain gave away a penalty five minutes into the game with the most blatant handball you will see all season.

It was no coincidence that Liverpool’s equaliser came through Dominik Szoboszlai, arguably the only player in red who has lived up to last season’s lofty standards.

Liverpool briefly looked back to their rampant best, but could not break PSV down and their brittle nature soon proved their undoing yet again.

Mo Salah remains an issue for Liverpool

There was a distinct sensation of deja vu to the visitors’ second and third goal. First Mohamed Salah lost the ball and watched Mario Junior motor past him and into acres of space, before setting up Guus Til for a smart finish.

Salah’s work rate has long been a topic of debate, with the Egyptian effectively relieved of defensive duties by Slot.

In the Dutchman’s vision, freeing Salah from defensive responsibilities would allow him to stay further up the pitch and lead to a greater offensive output.

It was a formula that paid off spectacularly last season, as Salah plundered in 29 goals and registered 18 assists, but it has since developed into a major weakness with Liverpool’s opponents all too happy to exploit the space behind him.

If Salah was partially at fault for PSV’s second, responsibility for the visitors’ third lay firmly at Ibrahima Konate’s feet.

The Frenchman completely missed the ball allowing Ricardo Pepi to charge past him and into the box. The American’s shot crashed against the post, but Couhaib Driouech was on hand to lash home the rebound.

Konate’s struggles this season have been emblematic of a player who has lost form and confidence, much like Liverpool themselves.

Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool built their success on what the German described as “heavy metal football”, wave of relentless attack after wave of relentless attack.

Can Slot turn Liverpool around?

Slot turned the volume dial down last season, but Liverpool’s approach remained predicated on intensity, albeit with organised chaos replacing the “beautiful chaos” Klopp so dearly cherished.

But the magic has now gone. Liverpool look brittle, jaded and never in control of games.

Perhaps most alarmingly of all, the confidence that ran through them last season has all but evaporated.

Except for their 5-1 win away against Eintracht Frankfurt, this season they have won every game they have scored first in and lost every game they have conceded first in.

That points to deep-rooted flaws, the kind of malaise a manager must solve.

Similarly, Slot has repeatedly branded Liverpool’s defensive record as “ridiculous”, but their defensive issues are not exactly a novelty either as they have kept just 13 clean sheets in the past 49 games.

“I need to do better and that is what I am trying to do every single day, to improve the team, and that is where my main focus is,” the Dutchman said on Wednesday night.

The defeat against PSV left Liverpool 13th in the Champions League table, but still just one point away from the automatic qualification places.

Aside from the FA Cup, Europe remains their best chance of success this term as their title defence is surely all but over with the Reds 11 points adrift of league leaders Arsenal.

Liverpool can still rescue their season, but whether Slot will be the man leading their turnaround is far from certain.