Liverpool 1-4 PSV: Match Review
Liverpool’s 4-1 loss against PSV Eindhoven has piled pressure on Arne Slot’s position as head coach.
After nine defeats in his past 12 games, he can hardly complain that there are sections of supporters who would like to see a change in the dugout. Liverpool have not just been losing games but have been thrashed in their past three, with an aggregate score of 10-1.
The Reds’ ongoing problems continued. They were meek in defence, far too open in midfield and toothless in the final third bar Dominik Szoboszlai’s 16th-minute goal. The ingredients for a cocktail of a team in disarray.
At his post-match press conference, Slot insisted that he did not feel that his job was under threat, having held recent talks with the hierarchy. But the Liverpool chiefs will be concerned by what they saw against PSV.
Liverpool are not a club that sacks managers lightly. The fact that Slot guided the Reds to the Premier League title in his maiden campaign means that calls for his head are not as vociferous as they would be elsewhere.
No former boss who has delivered an English championship has ever been axed in the club’s history. Yet Liverpool’s defence of the title is over before December, having lost five of their previous six league games and are 11 points behind leaders Arsenal. There has been £450 million spent, to boot.
Rodgers’ sacking from Liverpool
Owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) are prepared to make a change if they feel it is necessary, though. The American firm have sacked three managers during their 15-year tenure. The most memorable was the decision to part ways with Brendan Rodgers.
In the 2013-14 campaign, Rodgers went agonisingly close to guiding Liverpool to a maiden Premier League crown. They finished two points behind Manchester City and had it not been for that Steven Gerrard slip, things might have been different.
Rodgers remained in charge for the following campaign but Liverpool finished just sixth in the league, as well as crashing out of the Champions League at the group stage and then being dumped out of the last 32 of the Europa League.
Less than two months into the 2014-15 campaign, Rodgers was relieved of his duties. FSG made a ruthless decision shortly after a 1-1 draw against Everton in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. On paper, that was not a bad result. However, it was the final straw. Liverpool has won just one game in their previous nine matches and left them 10th in the table.
In comparison, Slot has won three of his past nine matches - triumphs over Eintracht Frankfurt and Real Madrid in the Champions League, as well as Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Hodgson and Dalglish’s exits
There were few who disagreed with Roy Hodgson receiving his marching orders in January 2011, shortly after FSG’s takeover. Hodgson won two of his last nine fixtures, with the axe wielding after a sobering 3-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers.
Kenny Dalglish’s exit from his second spell in charge in May 2012 was perhaps harsher given that Liverpool had won the League Cup and reached the FA Cup final. Dalglish’s departure after the final game of 2011-12, with the Reds ending in eighth place. The Anfield legend won four of his last nine games.
The fact that Slot won the title is undoubtedly affording him more time. But if Liverpool produce another pitiful performance against West Ham on Sunday, the death knell might well sound.
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