Slot Isn’t Alone: Senior Players Must Step Up

I’m not pretending Arne Slot has covered himself in glory this season. Far from it. But the idea that it’s all on him doesn’t sit right with me either, because there’s been something more worrying than tactics or selection: senior players going missing when the team’s crying out for leadership.

When you’ve got experienced lads who’ve seen every type of Premier League scrap going, you expect standards to be set from within. Not just when the crowd are up and Anfield’s bouncing, but especially when things feel sticky and the football looks a bit flat.

Leadership can’t just be a badge on the shirt

Virgil van Dijk is the captain. That means more than winning the toss and pointing. If things aren’t working, the captain is the one who has to be in constant dialogue with the manager, asking the hard questions and making sure the message is getting through. He might well be doing that behind the scenes, to be fair, but on the pitch it still has to show.

You don’t need to be a tactical nerd to spot when Liverpool’s level drops: distances get bigger, second balls go, little duels start being lost, and the whole side looks like it’s waiting for someone else to fix it. That’s exactly when the experienced heads have to drag the standards back up.

Salah’s form and the noise around it

Mohamed Salah is a legend of this club, that’s not up for debate. But that status comes with responsibility as well. If you’re playing poorly, you don’t get to act shocked when you’re taken out of the side. And you definitely don’t get to make it about being “thrown under the bus” if the performances haven’t been there.

Truth is, if you’re not taking chances, not looking sharp, and not making the right decisions in the final third, then you’re not helping the manager or the team. It’s as simple as that. Liverpool have needed their match-winners this year, and too often it’s felt like we’ve been waiting for a moment that never arrives.

It doesn’t stop at the front three

I’d even throw Alisson into the conversation as well. When he’s fit, the expectation is that he’s the safety net, the one who keeps you steady when the game gets messy. If his level drops, even slightly, the knock-on effect is massive because the rest of the side stop trusting what’s behind them.

So yes, Slot has been poor. But he hasn’t been poor on his own. If Liverpool are going to get back to looking like Liverpool, it’s not just about the manager tweaking a few ideas. It’s about the big players taking ownership, demanding more of themselves, and setting the tone every single week.

Written by Sean Dundee: 27 January 2026