It was not necessary to reach this point of the season for me to have a conclusion about this subject, because I have been thinking about it for some time. Liverpool entered this season as the favourites to win the Premier League, that is what everyone thought. How is it possible that the team that dominated the Premier League last season, spent almost 500 million euros to bring in major players and someone would think they would not win again this year? Insanity for those who did not think that, but that is the reality.
In terms of a title defence, this Liverpool season has to be one of the worst in history and here we mainly have to talk about the coach, Arne Slot.
Last season he did something that Klopp only did once, also with a bit of bad luck from constantly going against this City in a crazy mode that practically did not know what losing was. But the fact is this: Arne Slot won the Premier League in his first season with Liverpool.
The question is: was it 100% Slot’s merit? Could it not have been a team that barely needed to be changed, because of the clear DNA that Klopp left? Could it not have been because Salah had the best season of his career and completely dominated the statistics? I think it is appropriate to ask these questions and try to understand if the title won by Slot was really because of his ideas or if he simply followed what had been imposed for so long by Klopp.
The fact is that this season is not good and Liverpool are only fighting for a place in the G5. I say G5 because it is almost 100% certain that the Premier League will gain an additional spot for the next Champions League. The Premier League itself is not as strong as in other years and that is why Liverpool are still in the fight for a Champions League spot.
The last match, a draw against Tottenham, showed a Liverpool side that was not good offensively, apart from the prodigy Rio, who was practically the only one creating anything. And that gave hope to a Tottenham side that is having a disastrous season and that is, statistically speaking, the worst team in the entire Premier League over the last 5, 6 or 7 games. Liverpool played at home and gave hope, which in the end actually materialised, and Tottenham managed to equalise and leave Liverpool with 1 point that they will be very thankful for, given the situation.
We all know the respected history of managers and the time they usually stay at Liverpool, with only 22 managers in 133 years of history. But Slot has to leave next season. Try not to be eliminated by Galatasaray in the Champions League Round of 16, see how far you can go, in the Premier League do the minimum to secure the G5 and then you have to leave at the end of the season.
Conclusion
Arne Slot has to leave at the end of the season because I do not see 100% of the merit for the Premier League he won. And in this current season, now that it is really his team, it turned into what it turned into. Why is Gakpo still a starter? Many players are shadows of last season and the main culprit has to be the coach.