Twelve months ago Arne Slot was being talked about as one of the best managers in the world. Liverpool had just won the Premier League title in his very first season in charge, only the fifth manager in history to win the league in their debut campaign. He was being compared to Klopp, people were saying Liverpool had gotten lucky, that they had somehow landed another generational coach.
Fast forward to today and the same man just lost 2-1 to the bottom club at home. Wolves, a team that had won twice in the Premier League all season before Tuesday night.
Let that sink in.
Liverpool are fifth in the table with nine games left. They slipped to a damaging 2-1 defeat away to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday night, conceding a deflected stoppage-time winner that left them fifth in the Premier League table. The reigning champions are now in a genuine fight just to qualify for the Champions League. Liverpool have now lost nine league games this season five of them via goals conceded in the 90th minute or later. Five late goals conceded in one season, that’s not bad luck, that’s a pattern. There’s something deeply wrong with the mentality and the defensive structure of this team.
Stephen Warnock, a former Liverpool defender put it plainly on BBC Radio 5 Live: “Liverpool are nowhere near where they would like to be.” He went further, saying he wouldn’t be surprised if Liverpool dispensed with Slot at the end of the season if they miss the Champions League. Jamie Carragher has said the same thing. Steven Gerrard has been vocal. Jermaine Pennant called it out directly after the Wolves result: “This is not Liverpool.”
And the thing is they’re not wrong.
Liverpool spent over £450m in the summer, including two British record deals for Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak. Two British record signings, and they’re fifth. Most of those signings have struggled to find consistency. Key players from last season have declined. The project that looked so clean and exciting twelve months ago has completely lost its direction.
Slot’s style has become a problem in itself. His “risk-averse” approach has seen fans and pundits alike begin to turn, with reports suggesting the project has “lost momentum.” Liverpool dominate possession. They create chances. And then they get punished on the counter or in stoppage time because they cannot hold a lead or manage a game out. It’s the same story over and over again.
Now here’s where it gets interesting. Because the conversation has quickly turned to who comes next.
David Ornstein has reported for The Athletic that Liverpool would not swoop to replace Slot with Xabi Alonso after the Spaniard’s departure from Real Madrid. The club’s official position is that Slot is not going anywhere before the end of the season. But the reports coming out of Spain tell a different story FSG is working on “alternative scenarios,” with Xabi Alonso named as the replacement who has gained the most traction.
And look, I understand the romance of it, Alonso at Anfield the returning hero. The man who rebuilt Bayer Leverkusen from the ground up and took them to a historic unbeaten Bundesliga title. There is a real case for him, but I’m not sure if that’s more of a nostalgia thing or a logical choice.
But here’s the bigger picture that nobody is really talking about.
Liverpool are one of the richest clubs in the world. They just spent £450 million. They have Wirtz, Isak, Salah on paper one of the most talented squads in Europe. And they’re losing to Wolves in stoppage time. At some point the players have to take responsibility too. Because if five of your nine losses come in the final minutes of games, that tells you something about the character and the mentality in that dressing room, not just the tactics on the training pitch.
A strong recovery in the final stretch stabilising results, progressing deep in the Champions League and keeping Liverpool in the top-five bracket would go a long way toward deciding Slot’s future. He still has time, nine games and a Champions League run that could change everything.
But right now? The title winners of last season look like a team that has completely forgotten how to win. And that is a crisis, no matter how you frame it.
