In Anfield, for ten minutes of the second half, time seemed to stand still. The local fans, amidst cheers and waving scarves, paid homage to Dominik Szoboszlai’s masterful free kick against Manchester City. The image was reminiscent of Liverpool from last season, determined to reaffirm their status as Premier League champions.However, when the final whistle blew, the celebrations were exclusive to the visiting fans. City supporters were celebrating their first league double over Liverpool since 1937, thanks to goals from Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland. This scene reflected the “Reds'” sad campaign.Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Pep Guardiola’s team was the eighth of the season in the top category. The “Reds” have won only six of their last 20 league games, facing a difficult battle to qualify for the next UEFA Champions League, with a five-point difference from Manchester United, who are in fourth place. Although there are mitigating factors behind this disheartening form, coach Arne Slot faces a worrying reality: the numbers are not favorable. Perhaps the biggest concern for the Dutch coach is that the culture of unwavering conviction and loyalty, cultivated by his predecessor, Jürgen Klopp, is now seriously threatened.Following his appointment in 2015, Klopp acknowledged the disillusionment among Liverpool fans and urged supporters to go from “skeptics to believers.” At times this season, faith, both on the field and in the stands, has seemed to wane.Recovering the fans is possibly the most difficult challenge for Slot. But is it too late to change course? When Liverpool defeated their Merseyside rivals, Everton, in September, they added five consecutive victories in the Premier League. At that moment, after a record transfer market, the champions were considered the clear favorites to defend their title, although their habit of winning matches in the last minutes raised doubts about the sustainability of their success.Those doubts proved prophetic, as Liverpool is now closer to the relegation zone (16 points) than to the league leaders, Arsenal (17 points). For a team that won the title by 10 points last season, the fall has been alarming.In the last 20 matches, Slot’s team has scored fewer points than 11 Premier League teams, including Fulham, Brighton & Hove Albion and Everton. In the same period, they have only earned three more points than Nottingham Forest and four more than West Ham United, both seriously at risk of relegation.The defeat to City in added time means Liverpool have lost eight points in stoppage time this season, the most of any team in the league. This propensity to finish matches poorly wouldn’t be so costly if the “Reds” were stronger at the beginning, but they have only scored three goals in the first half hour of league matches all season, two of them in the same match (the 2-1 victory over Everton in September).The match against City served as a microcosm of Liverpool’s season. Individual errors, insufficient squad depth, and controversial refereeing decisions – such as the lack of a red card for Marc Guéhi for a tackle on Mohamed Salah before Szoboszlai’s expulsion – played a key role.While some of these factors were beyond Slot’s control, he is at least partially culpable for Liverpool’s inability to maintain and exert their dominance, both in individual matches and throughout the season. One of Liverpool’s most profound problems this season became evident before the match against City began. As the lineups circulated at Anfield, the disparity in the quality of the benches was evident, with Curtis Jones and Andy Robertson as the only Liverpool substitutes who had started in four or more league matches this season.City, on the other hand, could count on Rayan Cherki, Rúben Dias and Nathan Aké from the bench, while Phil Foden, Tijjani Reijnders and Nico González remained as unused substitutes.Considering that Liverpool spent around £450 million in the summer, their squad doesn’t seem prepared for the rigors of a Premier League season. However, it should also be noted that the “Reds”‘ signing spree was partly financed by player departures, with the club recouping £258.5 million guaranteed (increasing to £294.5 million with add-ons) during Slot’s tenure.As a result, the depth of Liverpool’s squad is possibly weaker than last season, with stars like Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz struggling to maintain the required intensity for the full 90 minutes.These difficulties have been compounded by a series of serious injuries to key players, including striker Alexander Isak, who represents £125 million of Liverpool’s summer spending. At the other end of the field, Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley are out for the season with knee injuries, while Joe Gomez and Jeremie 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 like Salah, Cody Gakpo, and Alexis Mac Allister fail to replicate last season’s brilliant form.Despite Liverpool’s physical deficiencies this season, it’s also clear that psychological fragilities haven’t helped their cause. It’s misleading to assess the current situation at Anfield without acknowledging the tragedy that Slot and his players are having to face.The impact of Diogo Jota’s death last summer is unquantifiable and, without a doubt, should not be used as a general excuse for all of Liverpool’s problems. That said, vice-captain Robertson’s comments after Scotland’s qualification for the World Cup in November reflected the emotional turmoil that Slot’s squad has had to endure in recent months, while former Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher spoke frankly last week about some of the challenges that his former teammates are still facing.
Even so, elite football is ruthless, and patience and sympathy are often scarce. Despite all the mitigating circumstances, Slot knows that what he does next, and not what he has done before, will determine his position in the eyes of some fans. When coaches come under pressure, conversations often revolve around losing the locker room. But losing the support of the fans can be equally detrimental to a coach’s long-term job stability.Following the defeat to City, several fans stayed to applaud Slot and his players as they left the field, and the Dutchman has not yet been the subject of the same level of personal animosity directed, for example, at Tottenham Hotspur coach Thomas Frank, who is also experiencing a turbulent campaign in North London.On two occasions this season at Anfield, following the 4-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven and the 1-1 draw with Burnley, a minority of fans booed at the end of the match, but the level of discontent within the stadium has not yet matched the growing hostility directed at Slot on social media.In December, a BBC Sport investigation showed that Slot, along with then-Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim, was the most common target of online abuse in the top men’s category. That level of vitriol has only intensified in recent weeks. Sources have told ESPN that the feeling within Anfield is that some of the criticism directed at the coach has been personal and unfair.Slot remains a title-winning coach and has retained the support of Liverpool’s hierarchy, although the Champions League humiliation at the hands of PSV in November did raise some internal alarms. Last week’s decision to publish an internal roundtable in which Slot conversed 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 the ownership of Fenway Sports Group (FSG), has rarely been impulsive when it comes to making big decisions about the club’s future.Even so, it cannot be denied that faith within the fanbase is wavering, and many of Liverpool’s performances this season have done nothing to quell the growing sense of apathy in the stands.Klopp’s superpower during his nine years at Merseyside was his ability to harness the Anfield atmosphere to bend matches to his team’s will. That Liverpool has already lost five home games this season suggests that the fans’ participation may not be as emphatic or as unconditional as it was under Slot’s predecessor.In fact, Klopp’s untouchable status continues to pose more problems for Slot, whose more reserved and direct character has been difficult for some fans to reconcile. Added to this is the fact that former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso is now available after leaving Real Madrid, and it’s hard not to feel that Slot is being haunted by the ghosts of past and future coaches.”That’s what you have to accept if you’re a coach who doesn’t win enough games,” said the Liverpool coach last month when asked about criticism from fans. “Even if you’ve won something, there’s still room for criticism, which to some extent is normal because we’re in a new season and I was the first to tell the players: ‘We have to forget last season.’ I think it’s fair that I’m judged on this season and not on last season.”For Slot, the weight of that judgment seems to increase week after week. If he is not able to quickly restore belief at Anfield, the burden could soon be too heavy to shake off.I find it a bit strange and difficult when I hear people talking about Liverpool players and their performances, because I don’t think this season is important from a football point of view for them. It’s a very difficult moment for them, a difficult season, with circumstances that people are probably not taking too much into account.
Caoimhín Kelleher
