Slot, the Stick, and the Bigger Liverpool Problem

Plenty of Reds are looking at Arne Slot and wondering if he’s really the one to take Liverpool where we expect to be. I’m not pretending I’m above that. Part of me leans towards change.

But if we’re talking about standards, it can’t stop at the touchline. Because the more you look at the gaps in this squad, the more it feels like a football department issue as well, not just a manager issue.

It’s not only about the manager

I’ve got concerns about Edwards and Hughes too, mainly around how coherent the recruitment has been. We’ve signed good players, no question. The nagging doubt is whether there’s always been proper joined-up thinking about how those players fit what Slot wants to do, week after week, against Premier League sides who punish you for being half a yard short.

Right now the needs are pretty obvious in football terms: someone who can really pass from deep, another centre half, and a deeper midfielder who can screen the defence while still moving the ball. Not some caricature “destroyer” for the sake of it, just a player who reads danger early and helps us play through pressure.

And if we’re all being honest, watching a manager publicly carry the heat while not getting meaningful help in a window is hard to swallow. It just doesn’t feel like a sensible way to run a top club.

The Slot criticism has got ugly

Where it really loses me is the constant ribbing and personal abuse. Criticise decisions, fine. Question the direction, fine. But the idea that insulting him is “earned” because results aren’t perfect? That’s not Liverpool at its best.

Everything becomes his fault. Injuries. Individual form swings. Even the idea that if a young player does well elsewhere, it’s somehow proof the manager is clueless. Then every win turns into a fluke. It’s exhausting, and it’s a lazy way to talk about football.

And the nostalgia can get selective as well. People talk about the Jurgen years like there were never rough spells, never sticky months, never matches where we looked leggy or blunt. Of course there were. That’s football.

There’s still a version where it clicks

Even while leaning towards Slot being moved on, I can still see the alternative argument. Injuries matter. Fine margins matter. Set pieces matter. If that balance swings even slightly the right way, you can look a completely different side without changing everything.

And if the squad gets two or three smart additions in the right areas, it’s not mad to think Liverpool could be right back in the mix. Slot has made mistakes, yes. But he’s not a dope. The real question is whether the club can build a squad that actually suits the plan, whichever coach is in charge.

Written by PatrikBurgher: 30 January 2026