Is Arne Slot able to salvage his career from the ruins of Liverpool's season?

There weren't any nine weeks ago, and for good cause. At the top of the Premier League, Liverpool led by five points. In his first season, Slot had won the championship. He appeared to be Jurgen Klopp's Bill Shankly's natural successor, the Bob Paisley. There are now more memories of Liverpool's past: Slot has done something no one has done since the long-forgotten Don Welsh during the 1953–54 relegation season by losing three straight games by a minimum of three goals.

A more recent appointment is now relevant. Ten years have passed since Liverpool last fired a manager Brendan Rodgers who had coached at both clubs. On October 4 Liverpool lost to Chelsea. They haven't really had to think about the question since. Although development was not always easy in the three and a half years prior to his first trophy, it was clear that Klopp was a fantastic fit because of his charm and force of personality. At that time, he had the prestige of being an Anfield legend and a Champions League winner.

The lack of healthy senior center-backs and a functional midfield, respectively, were mitigating factors for Liverpool's two successive seasons of miserable runs and crushing losses in 2020–21 and 2022–23. Klopp demonstrated the ability to make things better in each instance as well. One of his off-years ended with Liverpool winning five games in a row, while the other ended with seven wins in nine games. However, following Napoli's 4-1 thumping in 2022, he observed: "Our owners are rather calm and expect from me to sort the situation and not expect that someone else will sort it." Even though Rodgers would not agree, that always seemed to be the Fenway Sports Group's strategy.

Similar to Klopp, Slot has a readiness to accept accountability for losses, even if they are shared. The question is whether he can motivate a change in direction as well. Due to wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid, which gave the impression that Liverpool was once again on the right track, a sequence of nine losses in twelve games has included two slumps.

Then in the Anfield losses to Nottingham Forest and PSV Eindhoven it fell apart at an alarming rate once more. Instead of improving it deteriorated. However, it was just more of the same in some ways. More goals were given up as a result of individual mistakes, counterattacks, and set pieces, as well as when they appeared ragged during a game pursuit. They have additional proof that Ibrahima Konate is in terrible form, that Mohamed Salah's incapacity to return is a concern, and that they should have purchased Marc Guehi on deadline day instead of Alexander Isak. If Slot doesn't trust him, they should have also sold Joe Gomez.

Isak meantime is no closer to match fitness, and whenever the £125 million player is on the pitch, Liverpool plays with ten men. Slot still views the midfield from the previous campaign as a safety net, but even with the return of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, and Dominik Szoboszlai, there is no assurance that humiliating losses won't occur. For almost the whole season left back and right back have been problematic positions. Steven Gerrard's critical assessment that Milos Kerkez was out of place for the majority of the PSV game was tragically accurate.

Does Slot know the answers? In the past two months there has been insufficient proof that he does. It's important to remember that he still has the highest win percentage of any Liverpool manager throughout his tenure even if he lost any of the next eight games it would still be higher than Paisley's.

However, Klopp's economist was always aware of the significant financial impact that qualifying for the Champions League would have on Liverpool who are presently ranked 12th in the Premier League. When the title is taken away it serves as a status symbol and a gauge of what is possible. Those with any knowledge of Manchester City never anticipated that Pep Guardiola would be fired and he shouldn't have been after his own run of nine defeats in twelve games last autumn. Guardiola saved the season's third place. Is there anything Slot could do?

He reported feeling "a lot of support from above" on Wednesday. Like his predecessor Klopp, he puts on a united front. Slot remarked, "I feel safe." Determining whether Michael Edwards is correct can be challenging due to his enigmatic nature. One important factor would be whether FSG's football director Richard Hughes and football CEO Edwards feel they have fulfilled their roles while Slot has not, or if they blame themselves for what appears to be an increasingly reckless spending binge. Slot, however, is losing with the players he lavishly acquired under his rule, while winning with the squad put together under Klopp's leadership. The fact that there aren't enough indications that things will change is also concerning.