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Is Arne Slot’s Tactical Turnaround Enough to Save His Job?

There is no denying that results have steadied. Wins have replaced defeats, the table no longer looks hostile, and the immediate sense of crisis has softened. But comfort and conviction are not the same thing, and for Arne Slot, the question is no longer about survival week to week. It is about whether what we are now seeing is a foundation — or simply a temporary brace holding together something fundamentally unstable.

The summer felt like a deliberate act of separation. Liverpool didn’t just move on from Jürgen Klopp the man, they tried to move on from the idea of him. Control over chaos. Structure over emotion. Positional discipline over instinct. Last season’s title success was immediately framed as evolution rather than continuation, and that framing matters. Because the uncomfortable truth is that no one truly knows how much of that triumph was Klopp’s force of personality and how much was Slot’s influence layered on top. I believe this has pushed the hierarchy into a mass change, and the result is far from what was hoped for and even expected.

What we do know is this: a fully Slot-shaped Liverpool has looked disjointed. Lighter. Easier to play against. The edge, the relentlessness, the sense that the game was being dragged into Liverpool’s preferred chaos — that all went missing as the warmer months grew cold. And when the early attacking bravado ran dry, the pivot was stark and unforgiving. The diamond midfield wasn’t born of ideology; it was born of necessity. A reaction to being overrun, not a vision realised.

Stability, Not Belief — And That Matters

I cannot believe that Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes sanctioned a summer of extravagant attacking investment only for the season to be salvaged by packing the midfield and slowing games to a crawl. This was not the dream. It was the compromise that stopped the worst run in decades. And while compromises can win matches, they rarely define eras or bring more silverware.

Yes, performances are calmer. Yes, the defensive bleeding has slowed. And yes, with Wolves looming, there is a very real chance Liverpool stumble into the top four by the end of the year — a remarkable fall and recovery in the space of twelve months, which has driven anxiety into the fan base. But belief in a manager is not built on containment alone. It’s built on the trust that when the opposition adjusts, the coach can adjust faster.

That is where my doubt remains. I don’t trust Slot to hold the line when pressure returns. I fear the temptation to revert, to over-control, to strip away the very aggression that made Liverpool elite in the first place. And that fear is why names like Inzaghi, Alonso, Cesc and Glasner keep circling my thoughts. Different profiles, different risks — but all offering clarity of idea rather than reaction.

To be clear, this isn’t about wanting Slot to fail. It’s about wanting Liverpool to thrive. I am not Slot out. I am Liverpool in. And when you possess this level of elite talent, ambition should never be apologetic. If this tactical turnaround proves sustainable, I’ll happily be wrong. But hope alone doesn’t build dynasties — structure, conviction, and leadership do.

Right now, the jury hasn’t reached a verdict. But the doubts are still in the room.

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