Liverpool are a shadow of themselves compared to their title-winning campaign last season, and concerns over the future are mounting.
The Reds comfortably and confidently secured their second Premier League title with little competition in Arne Slot’s debut season, and this year they were expected to continue their winning ways.
Their summer recruitment was one of the most talked-about stories of the transfer window, with an estimated spend of an eye-watering £450m – including heavy investment in attacking talent.
Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike alone represented a £300m-plus outlay, and understandably, huge expectations have been placed on the squad to maintain their high performance levels this campaign.
Unfortunately, this has not transpired; Liverpool have now suffered four consecutive league defeats – something unheard of from the Merseyside giants over the last decade.
Even at this early stage of the season, this incredible fall from superiority has caused major concern regarding Liverpool’s ability to retain their champion status domestically, as they are already seven points adrift of Arsenal at the top of the table.
Their Champions League campaign has offered little comfort either, with the Reds sitting tenth in the league phase of the competition and facing difficult clashes against Real Madrid, PSV Eindhoven and Inter Milan.
Despite winning over supporters early in his tenure, it will come as no surprise that Slot’s future has become a hot topic of conversation among the Anfield faithful.
High expectations and standards are embedded in Liverpool’s culture and reputation, though it remains incredibly rare for the club to make knee-jerk decisions when it comes to managers.
In fact, the Merseysiders have had the fewest managerial appointments of any club in the top flight, with only 22 permanent managers in their history.
As a result, Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has offered insight into what’s happening behind the scenes at the club regarding Slot’s future.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano revealed (via TEAMtalk):
“Liverpool absolutely internally… and when I say internally it’s the hierarchy, the ownership, all the people at the club, really, really trust Arne Slot,” declared Romano.
“They are 100 percent convinced that Arne Slot is the best manager to handle this situation.
“Obviously it’s been a poor start to the season, but Liverpool are convinced everything will be okay — that it’s going to take some time to assess the squad with the new signings, to change something, to get back to the attitude from last season.
“But Liverpool have full trust in Slot. There is very good communication on a daily basis between the directors, all the people in management, and Arne Slot.
“There is no problem, no bad relationship, and no issues between the players and Slot.
“So the problems are really tactical and mental, obviously, but not between Slot and the players or Slot and the management.”
Should Liverpool Sack Arne Slot?
There is no doubt that drastic action will be needed to get Liverpool back on track this season, especially if they are to confidently compete for major trophies.
It is still early days in the campaign, which works in Slot’s favour as he looks to turn things around.
However, with every passing game, concern continues to grow over how he will achieve that.
The summer presented Liverpool with unprecedented change, particularly after the tragic passing of Diogo Jota.
It would be disingenuous to expect that not to have taken its toll on senior players who shared long-standing relationships with the Portuguese forward both on and off the pitch.
Furthermore, the major overhaul of the attacking line-up will naturally take time to settle.
Still, Slot must now begin to demonstrate clear tactical intent and resilience in upcoming fixtures if he is to retain the long-term support of the fans.
That said, it was always expected that Liverpool would give Slot time to adapt and develop his new-look squad.
The question now is whether he can turn it around and, ultimately, deliver more silverware to Anfield.
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