Why I Think Liverpool’s Issues Start With Slot

The squad and recruitment are not seen as the main problem. The concern is a clear drop in standards, fitness and squad management, with local core players moved on and fringe options left short of sharpness.

I don't think the Liverpool players are the issue. We had the nucleus of a title winning team, and to that that added Isak (arguably top 5 strikers in world football last season), Kerkez (TOTY LB last year), Wirtz (multiple POTY winner in the Bundesliga by 22 years old), Ekitike (statistical models had him at a similar level to Mbappe at the same age), Frimpong (a title winning RB signed as a £30m back up) and Leoni (£35m 4th choice CB who was regarded as the best young talent in Serie A).

Transfers were fine, the luck was not

The transfer business was not poor. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but you cannot legislate for Ekitike popping his achilles, Frimpong who had never had a muscle injury before tearing his hamstring twice, Isak breaking his leg from a bad tackle and Leoni doing his ACL after just 80 minutes in a Liverpool shirt.

You also cannot legislate for Diogo Jota dying in a car crash on his way back from holiday for Pre-season leaving us a man short in the attacking department. So transfer business might not have been perfect, but it was good enough that most pundits had Liverpool as Title favourites in August.

Where it has gone wrong on the pitch

What you can legislate for however, is the massive decline in the fitness and form of players we already had at the club. Konate, Mac Allister, Virgil, Gravenberch, Gakpo, Salah etc. They've all looked like shadows of themselves.

Szoboszlai is probably the only one who hasn't dropped off completely, but he's still looked worse in open play, he's thrived on taking over set pieces from Trent.

The dressing room and using the squad

You can also legislate for Slot pushing out or failing to retain the core Scouse or British squad members. Kelleher, Trent, Morton, Elliott, Quansah etc. These are players who improve morale in the dressing room and will always play for the shirt no matter how little game time they get. They are players who push their team mates to be better to keep their place.

Trent was a special talent who chose to leave, sure. But you have to look at why he chose to leave. I personally don't think he leaves last summer if Klopp was still in charge.

You can also legislate for the likes of Robbo, Gomez, Nyoni, Rio, Chiesa, Endo etc not getting a fair amount of game time, resulting in them all becoming disillusioned or completely lacking match sharpness when called upon. Utilising your squad is important in football at this level and Slot's philosophy seems to be to play with zero intensity so you can limp through the season with your favourite 15 players playing all 60 games.

My verdict on Slot’s management

Slot is unfortunately a man who lacks the understanding of what is required in English football physically, but also does not understand the City or Club and how crucial it is to have local lads in the squad or to embrace the fans. Nor does he understand how important it is to keep squad players onside and happy or fit.

He has allowed the standards to drop through a combination of pushing out players with impeccable attitudes, and giving the players who stayed far too much time off so he could visit Rotterdam or Ibiza.

I think we could've signed Guehi and Seymenyo, kept Diaz and even cloned a prime Steven Gerrard and we still wouldn't have won the league this season with how the team has been managed by Slot. It's been amateurish at best, self destructive at worst.

I sincerely hope Ornstein and Romano are proven wrong, and we do replace Slot this summer. He should've been sacked after the week where we lost 4-1 to PSV and 3-0 to Nottingham Forest (both at Anfield). That was the low point, and to be honest it hasn't got much better since.

Written by MK Scouser May 20 2026 10:19:11