 "After winning the Premier League in his maiden season in charge, Liverpool boss Arne Slot suddenly finds himself struggling for answers amid his team's dramatic loss of form. Reuters")
Not even six months have passed since Liverpool were crowned league champions for only the second time in the Premier League era. Arne Slot had proved an instant hit in his maiden season after succeeding Jurgen Klopp as manager as the Reds won their 20th English top-flight title with a 10-point gap over Arsenal, the team that finished runners-up for a third season in a row.
Two-and-a-half months since they began their title defence with an emotionally-charged 4-2 victory over Bournemouth at Anfield, Liverpool find themselves knee-deep in trouble with Slot frantically searching for solutions to arrest his team’s dramatic decline.
The Reds, after all, have lost six of their last seven matches across competitions which includes four consecutive league defeats. Liverpool appear to have had a season of two halves so far, in that they have been as consistent in terms of finishing on the wrong side of the result in their last seven outings as they were in the first couple of months of the season.
So what are the reasons behind Liverpool’s sudden crisis?
Lack of clean sheets and playing catch-up early
A month-and-a-half has passed since Liverpool had last registered a clean sheet with a 1-0 away win against Burnley. And it’s not just their inability to maintain a clean sheet – the Reds have been conceding first in each of their last seven matches across competitions, inside the first 20 minutes on each occasion.
Even in their 5-1 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt – their only victory during this turbulent phase that has spanned more than a month now – it was their opponents who had broken the deadlock in the 26th minute before Slot’s side responded with a flurry of strikes.
Established stars and new faces struggling to make an impact
As for why Liverpool conceding goals early, or failing to catch up with their opponents and finish on the right side of the result, a deeper look at the current squad members and their performances over the season would tell you that several players - from established stars to summer signings – have not been able to deliver as expected.
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The spotlight falls on the iconic duo of forward Mohamed Salah and defender Virgil van Dijk. Salah had finished as the leading goal-scorer (29) in the league last season but has scored just thrice this season while providing a couple of assists. And while van Dijk leads the chart for the most passes currently, the blame for Liverpool’s inability to maintain a clean sheet in recent fixtures does fall on him as well given he’s a vital cog in their defence.
A similar case could be made for the club’s marquee summer signings Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, with Liverpool waging a lengthy battle with Newcastle United to secure the former for a whopping £125 million towards the end of the summer transfer window.
Wirtz was expected to help Liverpool penetrate the defensive structures of teams employing a low block after being brought over from Bayer Leverkusen for £100 million. The German forward, however, hasn’t been able to deliver on that front so far and even Slot is at a loss for words when asked to come up with a solution.
Long balls a key area of concern
Liverpool’s weakness have also been laid bare over the last month with rival teams targeting them with long balls as well as fast breaks. Liverpool have had to defend long balls more than any other team this season, more so in their recent losing streak. And their Dutch manager only made it worse by spelling out the team’s weakness ahead of their away clash against Brentford.
“I’ve looked at how many long balls we already had to defend - 178 in seven games and then United came and we had to defend 59,” Slot had said ahead of his team’s trip to the Gtech Community Stadium. The result – Brentford boss Keith Andrews centred his team’s strategy around that point, which led to ‘The Bees’ going 2-0 up in the first half.
Liverpool aren’t pressing as aggressively like they used under Klopp, or even in Slot’s maiden season in charge, and have been a lot more defensive so far this season in a change of playing style that certainly won’t be welcomed by their fans. The Reds are also struggling to impose themselves physically on the field, losing several duels – whether on the ground or in the air.