Slot Needs Aggression, Not Passive Possession

I’m not really interested in writing anyone off for the sake of it, but the point being made here is fair: Arne Slot only gets out of this fog by changing the feel of the team. Not the odd moment. Not a neat spell of keep-ball. The actual identity.

Because too often this season it’s looked passive. We’ve had plenty of the ball in games, but it’s been the kind of possession that doesn’t scare anyone. The tempo drops, we end up circulating it, and suddenly a Premier League match becomes a non-threatening exercise in control. That might sound grown-up on a tactics board, but it’s been boring to watch and, more importantly, it hasn’t brought the results.

What’s gone missing: winning it back with bite

The biggest tell is how we behave when we don’t have it. Liverpool sides at their best have always had that sense of “we’ll have it back in a second”. The press is aggressive, the second ball is ours, and the opponent feels hunted rather than allowed to get comfortable.

This season, too many phases have been the opposite. We’ve looked like we’re waiting for the game to come to us, waiting for a mistake, waiting for the moment. And when you’re passive off the ball, you tend to be passive with it too, because you’re not winning it in dangerous areas where chances are naturally created.

Why Barnsley doesn’t really move the needle

Cup matches have their place, but they aren’t the bread and butter. A game like Barnsley only really matters if it goes horribly wrong. It didn’t. Fine. But “fine” isn’t the standard Liverpool are supposed to live on, and it doesn’t answer the bigger question of whether we can impose ourselves week after week in the league.

That’s the real ask: sustainable performance. Not a one-off, not a cameo, not something you have to squint at to find. You want to see a pattern developing that makes you think, with time, we’ll be back properly challenging.

Arsenal second half: a step, but only if it repeats

It says a lot that people are clinging to the second half against Arsenal as a possible turning point. You can see why, too. There was at least a hint of life, a hint of us, a hint that the players were going to go and take the game rather than manage it.

But it only counts if it becomes the baseline. If we go into Burnley and start passive again, then that “step forward” was just a moment. And moments don’t change seasons. Only sustained performance is worth noting. Everything else is noise.

Right now, the sustained level has been poor. Slot doesn’t need miracles. He needs the team to look aggressive, brave and creative for long enough that nobody has to stretch for signs anymore.

Written by Davey Sulls: 19 January 2026