Arne Slot‘s approach at Man City has been described as “tactically naive,” even with Pep Guardiola not presenting any new challenges for Liverpool.
Liverpool were brought back down to earth at the Etihad after two promising results, following Slot’s return to his winning formula.
The head coach made an intentional comment pre-match about the hours he analysed City, but his side looked unrecognisable in the 3-0 defeat despite the unchanged lineup.
The question then remains, what is going wrong for Liverpool? Tactical analyst Josh Williams, speaking on The Breakdown, offered an insightful examination of the issues at hand.
With Man City not offering any new tactical surprises on Sunday, Williams described Slot as “tactically naive” after Liverpool failed to counter Guardiola’s system, which included flooding the midfield.
After the host described Slot’s approach as “stubborn,” Williams said: “I wouldn’t even use the word stubborn, I’d say naive.
“I saw him say that comment that he saw plenty of City tapes. What City did was not particularly new, Guardiola didn’t come up with some kind of Galaxy brain thing.
“There was nothing particularly different that Liverpool shouldn’t have been prepared for.”
He points out in one example that Conor Bradley, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah all stood off Jeremy Doku not knowing if he was their man in particular positions on the pitch, and “you’d expect Slot to (have made) that clearer.”
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - Sunday, November 9, 2025: Manchester City's Jérémy Doku celebrates after scoring the third goal during the FA Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Liverpool FC at the City of Manchester Stadium. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Although Williams felt it was a “really unlucky game,” the damning verdict was that, “from a tactical perspective, I think this was one of the worst of the season.”
Notably, he underlined that Liverpool are no longer “a cohesive unit” and their summer recruitment has prepared them for “a final third game,” one focused on penetrating the low block.
With too many players wanting the ball to feet, the dynamic of the team has shifted as too many players are asked to be out of position.
Go back to the transfer market?
LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, August 10, 2025: Liverpool’s head coach Arne Slot shakes hands with Florian Wirtz after the FA Community Shield match between Crystal Palace FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium. Palace won 3-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Liverpool had a statement summer in the transfer window but that has yet to reap its rewards, with the vast changes in personnel and approach destabilising the champions.
There has, understandably, been scrutiny on Slot’s position at the helm, and Williams senses one of the solutions is the transfer market, despite the recent eye-watering outlay.
“I will say I have sympathy for Slot, but I will lose sympathy if he’s bought all of these guys,” he explained. “But I have sympathy for him because I look at it and think, ‘Where do you go with it?’
“There is always someone out of position, always someone who is behind the ball when he wants to be ahead of it.
“If you get another coach in, he is presented with the same squad makeup. So, as mad as it sounds, because Liverpool have just spent £400 million, it feels a bit like a transfer window fix.
“You need to balance the squad out with a few different profiles because it’s really offensive at the moment.”
There is a lot for Slot to work on over the break and the full analysis is certainly worth your time, with Liverpool’s recruitment strategy of particular interest after their record summer.