With eight games left to play in the Premier League, Liverpool remain on course to be playing Champions League football next season.
But Sunday's 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur that took the Reds into fifth, which is expected to be the final qualification place for the Champions League, has not been met with any celebration inside the club's sprawling, worldwide fanbase.
The Reds were held by a Spurs side who are flirting openly with Premier League relegation and it was very much a case of two points dropped as Arne Slot's men suffered their second disappointing result of the week after Tuesday night's defeat at Galatasaray.
Everyone has a theory and an opinion on what has and is going wrong at Anfield this season and in that spirit, the ECHO has opened the floor to its readers to give some of their takes and what the issues are and how they are addressed.
Here, for the first time, is the ECHO's Reds Letter Day, which aims to showcase some of the hard-hitting views from Liverpool's supporter-base both on Merseyside and beyond.
I’m afraid the buck stops at the manager. Yes there are mitigating circumstances. The recruitment has been thought-provoking. The heartbreaking passing of the great man Jots (Diogo Jota) is one we will never truly understand its impact.
But the tactical setup and approach is clear to see. I sometimes watch us and feel I am watching the Temu version of Man City. Ironically, even the great Pep Guardiola has had to adapt his style of play as the 'death by a thousand passes before your opponents fall asleep through boredom, and you score' version of the game has gone. Yet we seem to be trying to go back to that.
I feel for Slot. I really do. A mere nine months ago we were all on cloud nine and we were singing his name. A joyous place. And unexpected achievement! He was supposed to be the modern-day Bob Paisley to our modern-day Bill Shankly (Jurgen Klopp). Right?
Where to from here? I just do not know. One thing is for certain, this madness cannot be allowed to carry on. I struggle to see the light through these performances. Which suggests I know the answer but I’m too afraid to admit it!
I honestly have barely missed a single match of this great club over my 37 years supporting them. t is a club like no other. I endured miserable years, truly and utterly miserable. But always stayed behind the team. Watched some horrible teams at ungodly hours. It’s what we did as Liverpool supporters. But Kloppo transformed us. Changed us forever. That must continue. No knee-jerk reactions, just well-informed decisions. We must find a way out of this mess one way or another.
Conall Tayler, Australia
I believe Arne Slot is a very good coach and deserves another season. If this points-dropping trend continues by mid-eason next season (which is doubtful) that's when I would recommend sacking him. Don't let Xabi Alonso's availability fool you. Having a new manager sounds worse than sacking Slot this season, and that new manager would definitely have more pressure than Slot had when taking over.
We should cash in on Salah next summer and give him that legendary farewell and buy a winger of Diomande, Nico Williams, Take Kubo type. Ekitike is already an elite striker, but he's our second striker, good for us because I don't know any other club in the world with two deadly strikers who you may consider almost equally lethal when substituting each other.
A question for all in charge: why do we keep Arne Slot? Because he won a league with Jurgen Klopp's team? We've been playing 4-3-3 more than 10 years. Clinical and fast. Slot proved us wrong, he can't make proper exchange, he puts our best players in wrong positions. I think everyone can see the names in our squad and it doesn't work because of him. Gapko is playing awful but he has to start every game, why?
In my opinion, Slot has lost his dressing room since his altercation with Salah, and I don't understand what kind of team he wanted to build with Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards, knowing full well the demands of the Premier League. Secondly, he uses a playing system that is never suited to his squad.
As an LFC fan for 53 years, I am deeply frustrated with the club, the management and not to mention Slot and the coaching team and not least former players who make their comments about Slot and the team. I will admit that after the purchases this summer, there will always be a running-in period, it is inevitable and fully understood.
But if you look at the game itself, the tactics and the way it is all being approached, I am downright shuddering by now. The way Slot approaches football, as he himself pronounces "possession football", just doesn't work, at least not with the squad he has and the purchases he and the club have made. If we look back at last season, it is great and enormously nice to win and all the credit and respect for that.
That being said, if we look at the last 8-10 games last season where Slot started to put his own stamp on the game and made changes from pressure football to possession, things actually started to go wrong there. Pre-season, it was completely implemented and just didn't work, but he continued to implement it and at the same time brought in new players.
One thing is for sure, Slot's way of playing doesn't work in the Premier League, at least not with the players he has. The club is suffering right now and we are in crisis, yes I dare use the word crisis and I personally don't believe in either Champions League or Conference League next year.
So for me, Slot must have the season finished, a new manager in and the players must also step into character and show what they want for the club and then we have to take a season 26/27 with building and then crashing through afterwards.
I genuinely think FSG must be scratching their heads at the prospect that Liverpool are in this current form, the possibility of being knocked out the UCL and possibly not getting back into it next season, must mean they looking at replacing him, the stories the board are content can't be true.
Yes the credit in the bank was the league, but as soon as that title was won the team's form dipped as did a few players' form. Fast forward to this season and that form has continued, but why does he continue to play Dom [Szoboszlai] at right-back when Frimpong is fit - that made zero sense to me against Spurs.
Surely, the decision-makers at FSG have seen enough to convince them that Slot is simply incapable of fixing this team? The double whammy of conceding from set-pieces and backbreaking late goals has, almost unbelievably, become the nauseating hallmark of this team.
It has literally gotten to the point where we EXPECT it to happen, and it almost invariably does. Letting Slot continue to manage this team, given the money spent on transfers last summer, makes no sense. It's not fair to the ownership, the players or the worldwide fanbase. Their style of play precludes creating ANY sort of sustained momentum/pressure on the opposition.
I get that this season's non-stop football follies is not entirely Slot's fault, but surely, he has not managed (no pun intended) to get nearly out of this team what my eyes tell me its talent is worthy of producing. FSG HAS to find a way to get Jurgen Klopp back on the touchline.
Roger Barzelay, Maine, USA
Results don't lie. We romped the league last year. Check. Since the last 10 games of last year, we've won 23 of 46 competitive games. Also check. Back to the editorial. What players has Slot made better? What might anyone who actually understands the game conclude our style of play is?
I'd like to see Slot remain till the end of the season and then assess. I think Slot is right in that the team creates many chances but seem to sleep during final minutes of the game. They don't defend together. But I place another blame on Slot. These players have what it takes to qualify for the Champions League. They need to throw away possession football and instead play like mad dogs!
Kwarako Order, Zambia
I do think it’s churlish to beat Slot with the £450m (spent) line. £125m of that has been nursing one injury or another all season (Alexander Isak), we had to replace a generational right-back who was very influential in how we play, arguably the best left-wing forward in Luis Diaz, and 15-goal-a-season Jota. We’ve hardly stacked #450m on what we already had.
But, the players we have should be doing a lot better than we are, our performances have been incredibly linear all season, there’s just not been the improvement you’d expect from the team.
You’d expect hit and miss until say Christmas, then move through the gears as understanding grows. We’ve just not seen that. I don’t suspect he’s lost the dressing room, but I’d not be at all surprised if the players were questioning his methods/tactics. Especially given some of his positional choices.
Starting Szoboszlai at right-back is a fool's errand, he always migrates to the No.8 spot, which leaves a hole at right-back, so just start him there. Wirtz does his best work in the No.10 spot, yet he gets moved out left to accommodate other players.
Shane Howorth, Moffat
To be honest, I believe it’s time for Arne Slot to go. His stubbornness is hurting the team.
Gakpo continues to put in poor performances yet remains untouchable, while someone like Federico Chiesa isn't getting a look-in at all. Furthermore, Slot’s lack of passion on the touchline is alarming. He doesn't fire up the players or the crowd, turning Anfield—once the most intimidating stadium in the world under Klopp—into one of the quietest.
The board needs to act now and bring in a manager who understands the club's DNA before things get worse. As for Mohamed Salah, his time is up. We should cash in this summer and bring in Michael Olise as his replacement. Regarding Hugo Ekitike, he is a natural goalscorer who will only get better once he has better support from the wings than what Salah and Gakpo are currently offering.
What many fail to realise is this downfall started last season. We were outplayed by PSG in both legs of the Champions League. The last 10 games of last season were terrible, but fortunately we had the league wrapped up and we used fatigue and complacency as an excuse.
I have complete faith in our squad, in the new players. You can’t tell me that Isak became a bad player over night. Wirtz was amazing at Bayer, Kerkez was one of the players of season, Ekitike has shown what he’s about. My only worry is Frimpong, he's neither a right-back nor a right-winger.
If we had a man manager who can bring the best out of these players, we’d be back at the top just like that. Imagine what a Jurgen Klopp or Luis Enrique would do with this group of players. I have full faith in Edwards and Hughes. I think the only reason Slot is still at the club is because the manger they want will only available at the end of the season.
Ernest Chileshe, Zambia
