Arne Slot has insisted that his Liverpool team does not lack confidence or fighting spirit, despite the Reds being on their worst run of form for more than 70 years.
Losing to PSV in the Champions League midweek, Liverpool now heads to West Ham United in 12th position in the Premier League standings. Only a few months ago, it was the runaway league champion.
The PSV defeat was Liverpool's ninth loss in its last 12 games. In that match, the Reds let in three goals or more for the third successive fixture after back-to-back 3-0 losses against Manchester City and Nottingham Forest.
"In the first 85 minutes, or for large parts of the game (against PSV), I saw a team that has had a lot of setbacks recently and were still able to fight against that," Slot told reporters.
"Not always with the end product you would like because fighting is of course part of what you should do. But if fight was enough to win a game of football, then it would be quite easy.
"You need a little bit of something extra as well, you need quality playing one-v-ones, getting crosses in the box and arriving with the right timing. But I see a team that never gives up.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 26: Arne Slot, Manager of Liverpool, reacts during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD5 match between Liverpool FC and PSV Eindhoven at Anfield on November 26, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Liverpool manager Arne Slot is under mounting pressure (Image: Carl Recine, Getty Images)
"I see the running stats, I see it in the chances we create after we go down, but I agree the last five or 10 minutes against Forest and the last five or 10 minutes of yesterday’s game were not the same as the other minutes we played.
"For me, that is not that this team lacks fighting spirit, no. Maybe in the last few minutes, but not in the rest of the game."
Liverpool was far too open defensively once again. In the Premier League, at the current rate, it is on track to concede more than 60 times before the campaign is out.
Next up is a meeting with a manager who got the better of Slot last season — a rarity. Nuno Espirito Santo is now in charge of West Ham, but he won and drew with Liverpool last season when he excelled at Nottingham Forest.
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"He's having an impact on their results," Slot said. "He's done so well everywhere he works here in England and done so well at [Nottingham] Forest.
"Now he's doing well at West Ham again. He's proven to be a difficult manager to play against, not only for me but for everyone, because he always has a very good game plan.
"It's a tough team to beat at the moment, which was different maybe in the beginning of the season. We face them now and that's why we definitely need to be ready for a challenge because that's what they will give us.
"They know, of course, after our recent run of results that it's probably different for them to play against us now than it was three or four months ago."