Arne Slott’s second season as Liverpool manager has been a nightmare, but there’s still a chance he’ll end with a painful setback against PSG.
Arne Slott has had to deal with a number of difficult trips this season (Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Liverpool’s season has meandered towards an unexpected end, with Arne Slott now praying his team can maintain fifth place, but that could be the difference between him keeping his job or not.
The Reds entered the season having enjoyed a championship year, with new talent worth over £400m arriving and expectations running high. But those ambitions were quickly dashed by Christmas, with Slott having to firmly reset his goals for the season.
Liverpool face the real prospect of missing out on the Champions League and all its riches. That is likely to be the biggest deciding factor in whether the Dutchman remains at Anfield, but the way they lost against PSG highlights the gulf between them and Europe’s best teams at the moment.
The collapse at Anfield is worrying, especially given that Liverpool won their opening five games, setting an ominous tone for the remainder of the Premier League.
They have fallen from their lofty heights and are more than 20 points off the top spot, while their cup chances slip away. Wednesday night’s Champions League defeat in Paris requires just that, a miracle.
read more: Liverpool star punished for ‘making mistakes every game’ and harming team-matesread more: Jamie Carragher cruelly claims Liverpool played like a ‘lower league team’ after PSG defeat
Slott went from being the guy with all the answers to being the guy desperately trying everything, including playing his back five, to find a solution. Putting his work at Anfield firmly under the microscope, we consider five moments he, and the Liverpool hierarchy, won’t look back on fondly this year.
lost to Manchester United
It was the first time since 2016 that arch-rivals Manchester United had won at Anfield. There have been several fistfights in between, including a recent 7-0 fight. Up until then, they had won 4-0. When the Red Devils came to Merseyside, it was mostly a one-way street. So when an underperforming United team came to town, little was expected of them. Brian Mbeumo caused an early shock before Harry Maguire silenced the Anfield crowd by heading home the winning goal late on.
Man United achieved a rare victory at Anfield (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
The blow to Europeans by PSV
In any dire situation, there are always one or two outcomes that drive home the point that this is really at stake. The Reds had lost 3-0, but even if PSV were to win against Liverpool, it would surely be a narrow victory. Think again. The Dutch side achieved a resounding victory as Slott suffered their 9th loss in 12 games as their season came to a screeching halt right in front of their eyes.
Freed from deadlock with Wolves
Wolves, languishing at the bottom of the table heading into the Championship, once again left Liverpool looking for answers and wondering why their familiar flaws could not be addressed as they picked up their third win of the season. Andre scored in the 94th minute for Wolves, making it the fifth goal the Reds have conceded in stoppage time this season. This was another example of Liverpool finding it difficult to score from open play against teams sitting deep, something Slott himself admitted throughout the year.
Liverpool continue to lose against top-tier opponents this term (Image: CameraSport via Getty Images)
etihad nightmare
This season, Liverpool faced Manchester’s blue side twice and lost 7-0 on aggregate. The most recent was a 4-0 reversal in the FA Cup, with manager Virgil van Dijk claiming he had given up, and City won 3-0 earlier this season. Both performances served to highlight the clear decline of Liverpool, who are learning lessons from a team they dominated only last season.
lost to PSG
It’s the latest example of how far Liverpool are falling behind the elite teams. Jamie Carragher claimed: “It was like watching a lower division team. The class divide was very worrying.” Although the Reds were lucky to leave Paris with a two-goal lead and a chance to return to Anfield, few who watched the match at the Parc des Princes would have imagined a scenario in which Liverpool would defeat the European champions.
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