After the 0-3 defeat to Nottingham Forest, Liverpool coach Slott was under tremendous pressure. Theathletic talks about the Dutch coach's situation. Just when you thought Liverpool's situation couldn't get any worse, they showed their wo...
After the 0-3 defeat to Nottingham Forest, Liverpool coach Slott was under tremendous pressure. Theathletic talks about the Dutch coach's situation.
Just when you thought Liverpool's situation couldn't get any worse, they showed their worst form this season. The previous defeats to Crystal Palace and Chelsea were at least due to conceding goals in stoppage time, but in the last two league games, they were first defeated 3-0 by Manchester City, and then defeated by the same score by Nottingham Forest, who are in the relegation zone.
Based on recent performance, Liverpool, the defending champion, is ranked 18th in the Premier League standings after six games, only a few points ahead of the bottom Wolves. This disastrous performance is reminiscent of the difficulties Manchester City experienced at this time last year. Liverpool lost six of seven games in the league, while Manchester City also suffered six defeats in eight games in November and December last year.
Manchester City also experienced setbacks in the European arena at the time (such as a 1-4 defeat against Amorim's Sporting CP, and the embarrassment of going from a three-goal lead to a final 3-3 draw against Feyenoord), but the key is that Guardiola has proven over the years that he is one of the greatest coaches in history, and he is struggling to cope with the loss of core player Rodri.
Although Manchester City was nervous and abnormal last season, Liverpool's current problem seems to be more of an inability to cope with adversity. They have failed to score a point after falling behind six times in the 2025-26 Premier League (although two of those came in stoppage time). Unlike Guardiola, Slott has shown no confidence that he can turn around Liverpool's fortunes.
It should be noted that there is currently no credible news that Slott has lost the trust of Fenway Sports Group, and even in the worst times, they will not fire the head coach easily. Just six months ago, the Dutchman was being hailed as a genius for winning the title in his debut season and he has plenty of credit.
However, given Liverpool's steep decline, one begins to wonder: when will Slott's position come under serious scrutiny? Eight losses in nine games? Eleven battles and ten losses? Or out of the Champions League?
Next, Liverpool will challenge the resurgent West Ham United away from home in the Premier League, which has won two consecutive home games under the leadership of Nuno Santo; and then face Sunderland at home. This team has already defeated Chelsea on the road and drew with Arsenal at home. Liverpool are already in the bottom half of the table and will likely remain so heading into December.
Of course, it is also possible that they will return to the Champions League, because they are only two points away from fifth place, and this season is very turbulent. Maybe this is just a temporary anomaly, but it does not seem to be just a temporary fluctuation.
In terms of personnel, tactics and the integration of new players, Liverpool has many problems that need to be solved. This summer, they spent about 450 million pounds to introduce new players (a record in a single transfer window), but the integration of these new players was obviously not fast enough.
The most worrying thing is Liverpool's lack of competitiveness. It seems that they have stopped fighting and some players seem to have given up their efforts. This is either because they no longer play for the coach or because they don't follow the coach's instructions. So, temporarily or not, Sloter appears to have lost control of the locker room. Of course, this is only based on the players' body language and performance. Only those in the locker room know the real situation, especially last season's players and staff who were affected by the tragic death of teammate Jota in July this year.
Sloter will certainly remain as Liverpool manager for a while, but as Mourinho and Ranieri's experiences at Chelsea and Leicester City have proven, patience can never exist indefinitely.
