Arne Slot Under Immense Pressure as Liverpool Drop More Points
Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Fulham at Anfield encapsulated a season teetering between transition and turbulence. A point earned, perhaps, but clarity lost, almost certainly. When David Lynch spoke to Dave Davis for Anfield Index on the club’s recent pressures, the verdict was balanced but bleak. “I don’t think Liverpool can feel too sorely about it because I think a draw was a fair result.” Fairness, though, does not equate to progress, and fairness alone cannot underpin a title defence.
Arne Slot, the man who delivered a Premier League crown in his debut season, has seen that early goodwill evaporate. Liverpool’s fall to fourth place, paired with a return of five wins from their last 15 league outings, has made this campaign feel less like defending a title and more like defending a manager.
The stutter has halted momentum off the pitch too, cooling discussions around a new contract for Slot, a worrying sign in any context. “That’s not me being harsh or wanting him sacked,” Lynch stressed, “but if Liverpool really thought he was the man to take them forward, he would be signed up to a new contract and he isn’t.” You can dress it up as patience or prudence, but in elite football, contract inertia rarely signals confidence.
Liverpool’s Recent Performances
Liverpool’s tactical identity this season has been oddly easy to define but hard to defend. Controlled in spells, chaotic in moments, and rarely convincing for 90 minutes. Lynch summed up the collective mood perfectly, “I think by this point of the season, we all hoped that things would start to click and look a bit better.” The hope was that a coach lauded for his structured approach would refine, not regress, a squad built for dominance. Instead, Liverpool have levelled out into a side that oscillates between tidy build up play and defensive fragility. The structure exists, the synergy does not.
Fulham, to their credit, were worthy of their share of the spoils. Yet, the broader issue for Liverpool is not this single result, it’s the sameness of the shortcomings. The same half spaces vacated, the same rest defence unsettled, the same promising sequences undone by passive moments without the ball. Slot’s football might be aesthetically coherent, but coherence is not coercion, it’s not compelling opponents to bend to your will. Lynch warned that “this style of football might sneak them into top four,” and sneak is the operative word. Liverpool should be striding, not sneaking.
Slot’s Legacy Credit Meets Contract Debit
Judging a title winning manager just months on from glory can feel jarring, even unjust, but this is the Premier League, not a long service award. Slot’s first season was revolutionary in outcome if not always in process, and it banked him enormous credit. But football works in cycles too, and this season has spent that credit rapidly. Lynch questioned, “Can this manager get it right? I’m not too sure.” It’s a question asked without malice, but asked with mounting evidence.
And here lies the rub: top four, in isolation, is a solid return for most clubs, it’s a shaky safety net for Liverpool. “I can’t see a world where top four is enough to save the manager.” If the hierarchy believed in Slot’s long term fit, belief would have materialised in ink by now. Instead, silence persists, and speculation grows louder.
