Calm and patience needed at Liverpool

Defeats are always difficult to accept at Liverpool, a club where expectations are enormous but the last two have been humiliations, in front of their own crowd, at Anfield, where the fate of all managers (or a head coach in this case) still tend to be determined, regardless of what people are saying on the internet.

Frustration has been aimed at players and the person leading them but, so far, it has not manifested into the kind of groundswell where Arne Slot’s position has been questioned loudly enough to influence decisions at executive level.

Some of his critics have suggested that Slot benefited from inheritance. All of the regulars in the squad last season were, after all, bought in the Jurgen Klopp era, but it seems ridiculous to use winning the league against Slot, particularly when Klopp was unable to achieve the feat with exactly the same group of players. 

There are no indications that Liverpool, or more specifically, their owners, Fenway Sports Group, which is heavily influenced by the organisation’s CEO of Football Michael Edwards, are going to intercept a problem before it becomes a far more serious one. Yet their record shows they are prepared to act if they think the team is heading in the wrong direction and there is no way back. If you take out Klopp’s reign, FSG have sacked three managers in six years.

Owners now tend to act when money is at stake (Leicester), or when egos clash and relationships break down (Chelsea). At Liverpool, the financial implications for not being in the Champions League are real. There are also egos to consider but the context is otherwise unique and replacing Slot would challenge the idea that the club is especially different to any other these days, and shatter any illusion that ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ might have meaning, especially in periods of distress.

In my view managers are changed too readily in modern football.   There is no doubt that the equilibrium at Liverpool was disturbed by the tragic events of this summer.   However, this should mean that the club sticks to its values.   Give him time and the Slot Machine will deliver again.