Who would have thought that Liverpool would be an Arsenal win away from being unable to retain their Premier League title with seven games to go, especially after they kick-started the season with the same momentum that they left it last term?
Unfortunately, the reality has been cruel to Arne Slot and his Liverpool team. They are in a desperate hunt for a place in next season’s Champions League and look vulnerable, occasionally struggling to overcome even the weakest teams in the league.
From smashing the record for the biggest lead after five games to falling 21 points behind the leaders with seven games remaining, the Reds have experienced the highest of highs, the lowest of lows, and everything in between.
The defeat at Brighton before the international break marks their tenth loss, equaling the most they’ve suffered in a single Premier League campaign in exactly a decade; by projection, they are bound to exceed that total by the end of May.
Whatever happened to the high-flying team from last season, whose potential was expected to soar even higher after the injection of over £450 million, especially with only two key players, Luis Diaz and Trent Alexander-Arnold, departing?
Why have the Reds gone bad?
This is the question Liverpool fans continue to ask as they watch their team struggle for wins across all competitions. Even Arne Slot occasionally seems taken aback by how a season they were meant to dominate has turned out.
While their rivals struggled last season, Liverpool were good value for their achievements, even if they arguably underachieved due to an early Champions League exit following a round-of-16 penalty shootout loss to eventual champions PSG.
The reasons for their dip in form are now obvious, ranging from individual struggles to collective failures. Much of the blame, however, lies with manager Arne Slot, the man trusted to succeed Jurgen Klopp,.who has yet to implement a distinct tactical identity.
Arne Slot: Primary problem in Liverpool crisis
Arne Slot may be receiving more credit than he deserves for his title-winning debut, a success that has become the primary reason he has escaped heavy criticism for his shortcomings this season.
The Dutchman won the title with 84 points,.only two more than the club recorded the previous season under Klopp, despite facing a depleted Manchester City and benefiting from several favorable VAR decisions.
In truth, there was no genuine collective improvement in the team during that title run; rather, the individual brilliance of Mohamed Salah proved decisive and took them beyond the sight of rivals.
It was the same players, the same formation, and the same outcome; they were simply able to take advantage of their rival teams’ regression.
However, after spending millions to assemble a team that he could call his own, things haven’t been going well at Liverpool. The time to start asking uncomfortable questions may be now: Is Arne Slot actually the right man for the job?
Mohamed Salah: The faded shield
Mohamed Salah had a remarkable 2024-25 campaign. Aside from the early Champions League exit, it was arguably his best season ever, recording historic individual numbers.
The Egyptian carried Liverpool to the Premier League title, breaking a host of records and finishing the campaign with 57 goal involvements in 51 games across all competitions.
He claimed both the top scorer and best playmaker awards in the Premier League, scoring crucial goals to secure narrow wins or to break deadlocks when teams proved too tough for the Reds to crack.
For a player who looked like he was heading to the end of his time at the club following the bust-up with Jurgen Klopp in the previous campaign, Salah was a player reborn and was at the heart of everything good for Liverpool last season.
His dip in form around late February and March coincided with their Champions League exit and Carabao Cup final loss, while their Emirates FA Cup exit came in the early rounds away to low-league Plymouth, where Salah was not involved.
He was not only Liverpool’s knight in shining armor but the shield that protected just how shallow Arne Slot is tactically; his failure to find form this season has blown everything out in the open.
Lack of return from summer signings
Even though Mohamed Salah has struggled to replicate his usual dominant seasons, Liverpool made moves to counter this in the summer when they secured the signing of superstars to break their spending record.
In Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, the Premier League defending champions broke the British transfer record twice, while Hugo Ekitike also arrived from Frankfurt in a deal close to €100 million. Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong completed what was a dream summer.
So far, only Frenchman Ekitike has proven good value for money, even though his recent performances are beginning to raise eyebrows. Frimpong has been in and out of the team due to injuries.
At some point in the season, Andrew Robertson reclaimed the starting spot from Kerkez, who struggled to recapture his Bournemouth form, while Alexander Isak was the biggest flop of all before his long-term injury.
Florian Wirtz was another headache, but the Dutch tactician will be relieved by the recent alteration of fortunes for the German, who took until late December, in a 2-1 win over Wolves, to score his first goal for the club.
So far, it has been a disappointing return from their summer investments, and this has contributed to the kind of season it is turning out to be.
What is the way forward for Liverpool?
As the Reds enter the final weeks of the season, they will remain in a delicate spot as far as the race for Champions League qualification is concerned, so the thought of sacking Arne Slot needs to be postponed.
They need no added distraction, but the hierarchy has got to wake up to the reality that the Dutchman may not be the right man and needs to start exploring their options ahead of the summer.
The return of Alexander Isak could boost their chances in the run-in if he rediscovers his Newcastle form in time, but as Slot highlighted in a recent interview, expectations shouldn’t be sky-high for the Swede.
Replacing Mohamed Salah is a priority, but they should also be aware that it won’t be easy filling the shoes of the Egyptian; therefore, they should focus more on rebuilding rather than marquee signings, because they already have many of those.
For Arne Slot, the remaining weeks of the season are an audition for the job he already has but may soon lose. With Liverpool still active in the FA Cup and Champions League, the chance to win over the club will definitely come again.
However, by standard, this has not been a good season for Liverpool, and the fault lies solely with Arne Slot, although the club may find itself in more predicaments should the transition from Mohamed Salah not be handled with caution.
Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
