Top-flight football never stops evolving. Stand still and you'll be left behind. Just as Arne Slot and his Liverpool players have found out this season.
The reigning Premier League champions are slowly fading into the background to allow Manchester City and Arsenal to go head-to-head for the honour of de-throning them. Liverpool have already suffered more league defeats this term (5) than they managed in the entirety of the 2024-25 campaign.
Damaging defeats at the hands of Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Manchester United, Brentford and Man City, have left Slot's champions almost completely out of the running for the biggest prize in English football. It's only November.
Not only are the Merseysiders losing matches, but they are also being outplayed and outfought. This is a huge issue for those on the pitch, and an even bigger one for the manager and coaches in the dugout. If a team stops running as hard or fighting for every second ball, that's when alarm bells inevitably start ringing.
Florian Wirtz Turning Into Unjustified Scapegoat
Florian Wirtz in action for Liverpool
All the talk, understandably, is about the outrageous amount of money Liverpool spent over the summer transfer window. More than £400 million worth of talent came through the door, only adding to an already quality-stacked squad. Now, expectations are always going to be higher on the more expensive acquisitions. But is that fair?
The English giants broke the British transfer record not once, but twice in the summer. First, Bayer Leverkusen superstar Florian Wirtz was added to the ranks for an eye-watering fee that could eventually reach £116 million. Then, Fenway Sports Group did the unthinkable and sanctioned a £125 million move for Newcastle United talisman Alexander Isak.
With other players such as Milos Kerkez and Hugo Ekitike also being signed to bolster an already brilliant squad, all the focus was on Wirtz and Isak. That's more than understandable, and it's continued to be a hotly debated topic. Especially with both men's respective struggles in the infancy of their Anfield careers.
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Isak has struggled to get on the pitch consistently after missing large parts of pre-season due to his desire to swap Newcastle for Liverpool. Even in the 429 minutes he's managed in the red shirt, the Sweden international has looked well off the pace. He's only found the net once, in the EFL Cup against Southampton.
His absence has only added pressure to the shoulders of his new colleague Wirtz. How was it fair to add the Bundesliga's finest creator to a team already boasting the goalscoring genius of Mohamed Salah and the efficiency of Cody Gakpo? All while adding Isak and Ekitike to the mix.
The German was expected to hit the ground running immediately. He was brought in to link the midfield and the attack, while stamping his authority on the team as a future star. However, instead of replicating Salah's wonderful first Liverpool season, Wirtz is more reminiscent of Roberto Firmino's stop-start debut season under Brendan Rodgers.
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Jurgen Klopp turned Firmino into one of the division's leading players, identifying the exact role he wanted the Brazilian to perform. And the player himself bought into that, and more. At the minute, Wirtz is struggling to find his place in the starting XI, with no goals or assists in his first 11 Premier League matches. But his manager is doing him absolutely no favours.
Arne Slot Becoming His Own Worst Enemy
Arne Slot
The smartest decision Slot made when he took the reigns from Klopp in 2024 was to make very few changes to the way Liverpool played. They weren't a million miles behind Arsenal and Man City when the iconic German boss decided to call time on his nine-year stint at Anfield.
Instead of putting his stamp on the team immediately, Slot instead decided to just tweak a few things while retaining the identity Klopp had carefully crafted over many years. The hard-working style was still running through the veins of every single player, while Slot's clever tactical tweaks added some defensive stability.
Federico Chiesa was his only signing before guiding the Reds to a relatively comfortable Premier League title. That achievement cannot be understated. The 47-year-old tactician deserves time to sort out the issues his team are having at the moment, but he can't be allowed to feel too comfortable while trying to work things out.
Arne Slot's Premier League-winning XI:
my-lineup-made-with-homecrowd (95)
Many of the problems Liverpool are suffering from at the minute are down to the manager, while some are out of his hands completely. Firstly, the tragic death of Diogo Jota will more than likely have had an everlasting impact on the players and staff mentally. No one will see the hurt and pain long-time teammates Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson, Alisson and many more will still be going through. Robertson himself recently mentioned how hard it was getting the Portuguese star out of his head on a big day.
Slot's constant changing of his starting XI, however, is something the manager can't put down to outside factors. Wirtz has yet to be played in the same role consistently, and it's yet to be seen whether Slot will be able to make Ekitike and Isak co-exist in the same line-up.
How Arne Slot should line Liverpool up for the coming games:
my-lineup-made-with-homecrowd (94)
Last season's hard-working, inevitable and intense champions look like a shadow of themselves. Players look low on confidence and many look like they aren't quite sure what's expected of them off the ball. Luis Diaz's departure only added to the out-of-possession problems as Dominik Szoboszlai is now a one-man pressing machine the majority of the time. It's a glaring weakness that Slot is yet to find the answers to.
Liverpool's Dramatic Fall Off
liverpool premier league
Dreams came true at Anfield on April 27th 2025, as the Reds secured their first Premier League trophy in five years and the first in front of fans for over 30 years. In a moment of pure joy, very few would've predicted that Slot's men would take fewer points than 10 other sides between the final whistle against Tottenham and the third international break of the next season. But that is exactly where we are now.
Liverpool's Premier League Form Since Winning Title vs Spurs
Games
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Not only that, but since their February exit from the Champions League at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool have lost 40% of all competitive games they've played. That's not just a bad few weeks, it's months of sub-par performances on the pitch and on the tactics board.
While the owners are expected to give Slot time to sort everything out at Anfield, it would be foolish to believe FSG won't be keeping a keen eye on what happens throughout the rest of the 2025-26 season.
Statistics in this article are courtesy of Transfermarkt. Correct as of 22-11-25.