Any positivity Liverpool had built up following successive victories was punctured on Sunday with a heavy defeat against Manchester City.
A trip to the Etihad Stadium is no cake-walk for any team, and the Reds knew they would have to be at their best to get anything in Manchester.
In isolation, a 3-0 loss is not the end of the world. Liverpool have lost plenty of times at the Etihad, and were on the end of even more bruising results under Jurgen Klopp.
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However, more worrying than the scoreline itself was the manner in which Liverpool fell to a fifth Premier League defeat of the season.
Arne Slot and his team never looked like getting a result against Pep Guardiola’s side. Outplayed right from minute one, Liverpool could not have argued if they had been beaten by four or five.
Despite a better week to start November, questions are rightly being asked of Slot following the game, with former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol one of those to air some serious doubts about the head coach.
Liverpool Manager Arne Slot shakes hands with Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium
Photo by Shaun Brooks – CameraSport via Getty Images
Arne Slot slammed for passive approach
Ever since Liverpool’s poor run of form began in September, Slot has been coming under increasing scrutiny for his apparent lack of solutions.
The Dutchman looks incapable of providing the answers to why his team are struggling so badly, with Sunday’s performance one of a team who badly need some direction.
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Nicol is often an outspoken critic of his former club, but in telling ESPN FC that Slot’s lack of a reaction to Sunday’s poor start at City ‘annoyed’ him, it will be easy for fans to agree.
“The [City] dominance surprised me,” Nicol said. “Other than maybe five minutes after half-time when Liverpool looked like they were trying to get back in it, that was it from Liverpool. 73 minutes Donnarumma made his first save from Szoboszlai. That just tells you how this game went.”
“There’s only one thing that really annoyed me about the game, was that Arne Slot sat on his hands in the first half and changed nothing. Liverpool were getting totally overrun in the middle of the park, and he did nothing.
“At least affect the game, tell people to come in, get more bodies in the middle of the park so they have to at least go on the outside Do something. You can’t just sit there and let the thing happen He just sat there and let the game play out the same from the first whistle. You can’t do that. That annoyed me more than anything.”
What could Slot have changed vs City?
Slot failing to change shape or approach to bad starts this season has unfortunately been a feature of recent times.
However, against a team purring in the way City were on Sunday, it can be incredibly difficult to change things.
Guardiola’s team may not be the one who won four Premier League titles in succession, but they are still an incredibly effective machine.
Some of their football on Sunday was brilliant, and although fingers can be pointed at Slot and Liverpool, the poor performance was not necessarily the result of a bad tactical plan.
Being overrun in midfield is not always because of the set up, sometimes the opposition are just better. Introducing Curtis Jones earlier or dropping Florian Wirtz into a more central position were the only real options for Slot, and neither would likely have changed things massively.
Nicol’s accusation that Slot is too passive is certainly one which is worth examining, but on Sunday we do not think it was the reason Liverpool were beaten.