Steven Gerrard has shared a passionate verdict on Arne Slot's future as Liverpool manager following their shock 4-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The Reds fell to a ninth defeat in 12 games in all competitions as Ivan Perisic, Guss Til and Couhaid Driouech (2) netted at Anfield to render Dominick Szoboszlai's first-half equaliser completely pointless, and plunged the manager's future into greater doubt.
But despite winning the Premier League just six months ago, this is a Liverpool team that look a shadow of themselves at the moment, and the Dutch coach must now surely make the big decisions to turn their fortunes.
Gerrard: Liverpool Form Not a Crisis
Steven Gerrard
However, despite the horrendous recent form, Reds legend Gerrard gave his verdict while appearing as a pundit on TNT Sports, and claimed it was too early to call the recent run a 'crisis', and instead described it as a 'rut'.
"Exactly your word. You said rut. You agreed with it, though. But listen, each defeat, especially in the manner of the defeat, you become closer to the crisis.
"We're not like using that, because a crisis, to me, is a club that needs years to get back to the top. Don't think Liverpool are at that point at all. They've still got magnificent players. This is a squad, or the majority of squad, that won the league four months ago. So I think crisis is too strong.
"That's not good enough. There are no excuses for that at this football club. I think everyone knows that, but crisis is a very strong word and disrespectful to some of the players that have delivered for this football club, and for the manager that's delivered three months ago.
"If this was six months down the line, a year down the line, and we're further away from that success, then maybe you can use a word like that, but I won't use that word just yet, but you can't deny that this team is struggling massively.
"They're on a terrible run. Confidence is at an all-time low, and they just keep believing. They keep conceding goals. They're wide open, and unless the manager can find answers and stability in the team. It's going to continue."
Slot Must Win vs West Ham?
Arne Slot Liverpool
The Reds now travel to the London Stadium to take on a struggling West Ham United side at the weekend, and Slot will surely know that another defeat will likely spell the end of his time at the club.
Fan pressure is growing around the grounds, but with a legend like Gerrard publicly backing him still, he surely has a little bit of time left to turn things around and get back on track ahead of 2026.
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