Starting at Manchester City in the FA Cup, Arne Slot must show doubters his plan for a team in transition can succeed
There were more important reasons for Jürgen Klopp’s return to Liverpool last Saturday, but it was apposite his presence reminded Anfield of the unshakable bond and belief they once shared, the joy his football brought. Those pillars of Klopp’s reign are weakening under Arne Slot and April may determine whether they are left standing at all.
Two cup quarter-finals in succession should signal a season on the right track for Liverpool; showpiece occasions such as Manchester City in the FA Cup on Saturday and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday whetting the appetite for what May could have in store.
It could yet bring redemption to a miserable title defence, with Mohamed Salah eyeing the exit a legend deserves and Dominik Szoboszlai on a mission to haul Liverpool to a Champions League final in his native Hungary.
But where recently there was a conviction that anything is achievable, not only under Klopp but in Slot’s title-winning debut season, Liverpool’s inconsistent form does nothing to inspire confidence for the demanding cup assignments. Champions League qualification, so essential to the club’s business model, and well within reach given fifth place in the Premier League is likely to suffice and Chelsea’s deterioration under Liam Rosenior, is also at risk. Six of Liverpool’s seven remaining league games are against teams in the current top nine. A potentially defining sequence of five matches in 16 days ends with the first Merseyside derby at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Before then, and whether at the Etihad, the Parc des Princes, Anfield or all three, Slot must show an increasing number of dissenters and doubters that his vision for a team in transition can succeed. Patience has been stretched not only by the football on offer this season. Last week’s announcement that most ticket prices will rise in line with inflation for the next three seasons, capped at 5%, was met with dismay by supporters of a club that posted record overall revenue of £703m and the highest wage bill in the Premier League in its most recent set of accounts.
Read the room, you might say, except Liverpool’s supporters’ board were in the room when ticket prices were being discussed and their objections to the increases went ignored.
That added strain arrived at the end of a month when Liverpool produced one impressive result and performance, the 4-0 dismantling of Galatasaray in the second leg of the Champions League last 16. Galatasaray were admittedly feeble at Anfield, but that did not detract from the intensity and cutting edge on show. It was a glimpse of what could be, but that display was the outlier in March.
Slot tried hard not to puncture the upbeat mood that night, but insisted it was unrealistic to expect a repeat performance at Brighton given the two-day turnaround. He has questioned Liverpool’s ability to cope with three games a week all season and his fears were realised by another defeat, Liverpool’s 10th of the Premier League campaign, that added weight to criticism of fitness levels, efficiency in front of goal and organisation.
The same was true of their defeat by bottom-placed Wolves and in the home draw against Tottenham, a result that was bad at the time, but looks embarrassing with hindsight on Igor Tudor’s short, ill-judged tenure.
There is no imminent threat to Slot’s position. Internally, from the owner, Fenway Sports Group, to the sporting director, Richard Hughes, there is recognition of the unprecedented challenges this season has presented, starting with the death of Diogo Jota. Injuries have prevented last summer’s ambitious transfer strategy from ever taking shape, several new recruits have struggled and established players such as Salah to Alexis Mac Allister have endured downturns to an extent few could have envisaged.
Last season showed the true Slot, not this one, the Liverpool hierarchy hope, and a title-winning coach deserves the opportunity to prove as much.
Their resolve, however, will be severely tested should Liverpool’s decline be exposed by City and PSG and the team fail to secure Champions League qualification. Champions League revenue is vital for what is expected to be another busy summer in the transfer market. An entirely new right flank is just one requirement, with Salah going, Conor Bradley’s rich promise stifled by injuries and Jeremie Frimpong lasting 13 minutes of the Netherlands’ friendly against Ecuador on Tuesday before injury struck again.
Slot has underperformed, along with his team, this season. His idea is to control matches by controlling possession, but while Liverpool’s possession stats are up, compared with the title-winning campaign, they have been exposed repeatedly in transition. Slot has not found a solution. What may rescue the 47-year-old in the final reckoning is what has worked against him from day one: the form and fitness of Alexander Isak.
The most expensive piece of Liverpool’s near-£450m recruitment drive last summer – “But we’ve sold £300m since I’ve been here,” a Dutchman screams in the distance – was bought to provide the penetration Slot felt his team lacked towards the end of last season and establish a devastating rapport with Florian Wirtz. A double act costing a potential £241m has barely been seen, playing together for merely 436 minutes and combining for one goal. That, in December’s win at Spurs, resulted in Isak suffering a fractured fibula and ankle injury from Micky van de Ven’s challenge.
Isak returned to team training on Thursday and, despite signs of improvement before his injury, will have much to prove when he returns to competitive action. The next few weeks would be an ideal time for the first repayment on Liverpool’s £125m investment fee (plus six-year contract).
Slot regularly excused Isak’s slow start on account of the striker missing pre-season while forcing his acrimonious departure from Newcastle. The excuse did not wash at the time and, while it would have more credibility after a serious injury, Isak – and Wirtz – need to produce as a matter of urgency. It would reflect badly on the recruitment of Hughes and Michael Edwards, FSG’s chief executive of football, to sack Slot without seeing whether their grand plan of last summer can come to fruition.
Slot has a disillusioned fanbase to placate, starting with the visit to a City team buoyant after their League Cup final victory over Arsenal.
There were only positives to Klopp’s return. The main attraction at a charity game between Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund legends, his presence helped draw a sellout crowd of 60,482 that raised more than £1m for LFC Foundation. Liverpool’s official charity will use the funds to develop employability programmes across the city region and internationally.
The adoration for Liverpool’s former manager inadvertently brought into focus the frostiness towards Slot, less than a year after he guided the club to a record‑equalling 20th league title.
That triumph exceeded all expectations in the aftermath of Klopp’s exit, although expectations change when reigning champions spends almost £450m on fresh talent and Liverpool have fallen short all season. There remains enough quality to save it, however.
