Having picked up just their second league win since September 20th against West Ham at the weekend, had Arne Slot found a way to stop the rot at Liverpool? The answer was a resounding no.
Not necessarily for the result against an in-form Sunderland, but more so for the performance that the Dutchman’s side produced in a 1-1 draw at Anfield.
Slot’s side haven’t won consecutive Premier League games since beating Burnley and Everton in September. In all competitions, it’s four wins in fourteen games. At Anfield, it’s two wins in their last seven home games.
Liverpool's safety first approach leaves Anfield wanting more
Liverpool’s former fortress is now a place teams don’t fear playing at, which even Slot admitted post-match: “It is clear that teams who play us think they can get a result.”
Football is a results business and quite frankly you shouldn’t expect to be manager of Liverpool Football Club after these results.
Going further back, it’s now just 15 wins in the last 32 games in all competitions, a truly dire record for any football club with ambitions to win trophies.
But even so, if Slot is, as he has been so far, afforded time due to some understandable mitigating circumstances, the performances, decision-making, tactical changes, substitutions and man-management must be at least showing reasons to keep him in charge of the club.
Again, all those are severely lacking and again showed against Sunderland.
The first half was about as negative as a Liverpool side have played since Roy Hodgson was in charge. A 4-4-2 shape saw Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak isolated up front, with wingers Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo exceptionally deep when out of possession. At one stage the Sunderland goalkeeper had the ball at his feet eight yards out and Gakpo was all the way back inside his own half.
It was safety-first, don’t-get-sacked football.
Even Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris admitted his surprise at how Liverpool didn’t press his side: “I think we were even a bit surprised to have time and space to build up the play and probably they didn’t expect to be at that level.”
Half-time saw Mohamed Salah, the highest paid player in Liverpool’s history, introduced from the bench and the home side did have greater impetus, changing from 4-4-2 to a very pronounced 4-3-3 - not the 4-2-3-1 that Slot has used mostly this campaign.
It must be dizzying for Liverpool players during this time, tactics change almost every game, then several times per match. Players themselves play multiple positions per game. How can momentum and understanding between players be expected?
Ibrahima Konate, while struggling himself all season, has had alongside him at right-back two different players almost every game. Against Sunderland it was Joe Gomez and Curtis Jones. Previously it was Szoboszlai, Conor Bradley or Jeremie Frimpong.
Slot told talkSPORT post-match that he is ”very convinced that the more this team plays together, especially when everyone’s available, the more we will even do better.”
The line about 'when everyone’s available' is questionable, given that the only players missing versus Sunderland were Bradley and Frimpong, the two right backs.
It could actually be argued that when everyone is available, it seems to disrupt the team further, with Slot not having a clear plan on how to accommodate the likes of Salah, Gakpo, Wirtz, Isak and Hugo Ekitike, plus Szoboszlai.
Slot even indicated post-match that, due to Sunderland’s low block defensive shape, his side were relying on either a “moment of magic from a player or you need a set-piece to score.”
Federico Chiesa saves the day - and Slot
Man management has been questioned by supporters, especially in the case of Federico Chiesa. The Italian was stripped and ready to come on just before the equalising goal, set to replace the peripheral Isak.
Chiesa was then told to wait, eventually replacing £125 million man five minutes later. The Italian immediately provided more energy in attack, but as has become commonplace in the desperate attempts to win games late on, Liverpool were disjointed, with Chiesa, Ekitike, Salah and Wirtz all on the pitch.
It was no surprise then that Sunderland almost won the match, but for Chiesa to ironically be the player to make a superb sprint to clear the ball off the line, saving the skin of the manager who refuses to give him more opportunities.
A defeat may have pushed the Liverpool hierarchy to make a change. Some may think it should still be made. The Reds travel to Elland Road on Saturday, with Leeds buoyant, having just beaten Chelsea.
Slot’s departure is increasingly feeling like an inevitability, with the coach struggling to find any way forward for his richly assembled squad.
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