If Liverpool lose again, how will Arne Slot justify it?

After defeats to Crystal Palace and Chelsea in the Premier League, coach Arne Slot lamented that Liverpool lacked luck in finishing before conceding goals in the last minute. In the defeat to MU, the Dutch strategist continued to cite missed opportunities, three shots on goal and superiority in all offensive indicators.

Then the defeats kept coming, and Slot came up with a new excuse, that for some reason Liverpool were always playing away. When he felt a little convinced, given that the Reds were the best team away from home last season (38 points, more than any other team in the Premier League), he switched to complaining about the negative play of opponents.

"The times we lost points, it was partly down to the opponents' tactics," Slot said. "It was pitiful. They sat deep and constantly disrupted the game. The goalkeeper would suddenly feel like something was wrong or they would take a minute to take a throw-in. You couldn't come up with a strategy to counter that. It was really disappointing."

Liverpool are losing control of their games and their progress in the season.

Slot may be right, but he can’t stop opponents from playing that way when they realise it’s a useful way to beat the champions. The thing is to find a solution, and the Dutchman hasn’t. Instead, he’s made the wrong decisions.

In the context of the decline in the Premier League, the League Cup front can bring the title. Liverpool also need a win to ease the crisis, creating momentum for a comeback. Yet Slot made up to 10 changes in the reception of Crystal Palace compared to the previous match. Surprisingly, the names chosen were mainly from the Academy. The result was not surprising, Liverpool's young shoots were defeated.

Slot once again found excuses. This time, he lamented that Liverpool lacked the same squad depth as Man City and Chelsea, who rotated their squad but still had quality players. Meanwhile, the Reds were forced to use a squad of unknown players under the age of 20.

In the last 7 matches, Liverpool only won 1 while losing 6.

This announcement shocked everyone, because Liverpool spent 446 million pounds to create a lavish transfer period. They bought Florian Wirtz for 116.5 million pounds, spent another 79 million pounds on Hugo Ekitike and set a new record of 125 million pounds to bring in Alexander Isak. Note that Isak's transfer fee is higher than the total amount that 10 Premier League clubs spent in the entire transfer period.

Perhaps Slot also felt that comparing Liverpool's squad to their rivals was inappropriate, and could upset the owners, so he retracted those comments on Friday. "I am completely happy with the team, with the quality we have and the strategy and policies of the club," he shared, but did not forget to plug some reasons, "If there is a problem, it is that not all players have had a full pre-season preparation or avoided injuries."

After a run of seven wins at the start of the season, Liverpool have won just one of their last seven (losing the other six). Slot must do everything he can to improve the situation and stop blaming. The Reds' board have not lost their support for him. The Dutchman says he has the full backing of the hierarchy and maintains a close relationship with sporting director Richard Hughes and football operations director Michael Edwards.

However, as Slot himself admits, "we still talk about the games, it's just more fun if it's about wins."