Premier League: Jekyll and Hyde Reds leave Slot on the brink

It takes a lot for the Liverpool faithful to turn on their own. The club’s anthem is literally You’ll Never Walk Alone. So when Anfield rang with boos after Sunday’s flat draw with Spurs, it meant something. Three days later, the Kop was roaring again as Liverpool tore through Galatasaray — a perfect snapshot of this Jekyll and Hyde season.

But let’s be honest: the boos weren’t aimed at the players. They were for Arne Slot. Less than a year after delivering a Premier League title, the Dutchman now finds himself among the bookies’ favourites to be the next manager sacked.

Making a pathetic Spurs side, in the middle of a relegation battle, on the worst run of their 143-year history, and minus half their squad due to injury, look like a well-balanced and competent attacking entity, who left Liverpool feeling unlucky not to get the win, you have to expect a response from fans who had just witnessed yet another stoppage time concession of a goal.

So predictable

The facts are that Liverpool have now lost 11 points in the Premier League from the concession of 90+minute goals from winning and drawing positions. That isn’t bad luck. It’s a pattern. And it’s a glaring indictment of Slot’s game management.

Ask any Liverpool fan as the Spurs game went into the final quarter of with the Reds holding a tenuous 1-0 lead, and they would have predicted that Spurs would likely get that equaliser. Most would assume it would happen in added time and more still would have known it would come from former Toffee, Richarlison. Liverpool have become that predictable that when the inevitable equaliser came along it didn’t even raise an eyebrow among the Anfield fanbase. Just resigned shrugs.

Liverpool’s owners, FSG, have publicly remained quiet on the Slot issue, as you’d expect. But the belief behind the scenes are that they will maintain their support as long as the side qualifies for the Champions League. And that they are not that keen on undertaking a totally new rebuilding process in the middle of an expensive Slot’s rebuilding project.

Victim of success

To be fair, if this season were Slot’s first, supporters might be more patient. A Champions League push in year one would normally be labelled a solid foundation. But by delivering so much, so quickly, Slot raised expectations sky high — and adding €500m in new talent only increased the pressure.

It rather adds to the somewhat unfair analysis that Slot only won because it was in effect his predecessor’s Jurgen Klopp’s side. Indeed, how many times before have managers taken over winning sides and won the league title in their first season? Very few across history not to mind in the modern game.

As we have said here before, Slot has been somewhat unlucky too this season. No one predicted the fall in performance of so many key players, even though there were signs in hindsight. And but for the performance of Dominik Szoboszlai and Hugo Ekitike things could have been a lot worse for the Dutch manager. Nevertheless, Slot has not exactly helped himself with some of his decisions over the season. As exemplified in the Spurs game.

Choices

He did not start his most productive striker in Hugo Ekitike, which was put down to the Frenchman struggling for match fitness in his first Premier League season, which is understandable for a player coming into the frantic pace of the English game. But maybe he should have started, won the game and then be taken off to rest rather than bringing him on when the game is slipping from their grasp and Ekitike is coming on cold and off the pace. Then there was Rio Ngumoha. The 17-year-old was the most exciting player on the field and won the player-of-the-match award but was the first to be substituted by Slot for the under-performing Mo Salah. Meanwhile, the still ineffective Cody Gakpo remained on the pitch firing blanks.

It still looks like Slot is unsure of his starting 11, three quarters the way into the season.

This was shown on Wednesday, where a totally different outlook from the side, no doubt still stinging from the boos, saw key members of the team played in preferred positions and it showed. It felt like the players were left off the lease and enjoyed their game a lot more as a result. And it showed in the result.

Now Galatasaray will be disappointed with their performance and left too many gaps for Liverpool to exploit. Something that does not happen anymore for Liverpool in the Premier League. But still Slot must surely see that when his on-form players are in position and left some liberty to express themselves, the return is a lot more impressive.

Whether Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde shows up against Brighton tomorrow may decide the direction of Slot’s Liverpool tenure. And right now, nobody — including the manager — seems confident which version we’ll get.