Liverpool suffered their ninth loss in 12 games with Wednesday's harrowing 4-1 defeat to PSV at Anfield in the Champions League, their poorest run of results since 1954
Liverpool's players look dejected after conceding a fourth goal against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night
Liverpool's players look dejected after conceding a fourth goal against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night
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Arne Slot has been told a trip to the pub might be a radical solution to help transform Liverpool’s season. The Reds’ campaign sank to a new low on Wednesday night when they were beaten 4-1 by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.
Slot’s side have lost nine of their last 12 matches, and this is the worst run of form the club have been on for 70 years. The Dutchman now finds himself under huge pressure to turn things around.
And as Slot searches for solutions to Liverpool’s problems, Jurgen Klinsmann, who once held talks with Tom Hicks over replacing Rafa Benitez at Anfield, believes a trip to the pub in a bid for a team bonding session could help get things back on track.
“It is a difficult task for any manager when you are in a negative spiral and tasked to turn it around,” he told ESPN.
“Do you look deep into your roster, look deep into your individual players and try to figure out why they are not performing at their usual level?
“There are different ways. Some coaches do more training on the pitch, maybe they overwork them. Some coaches do less and say: 'Let's go out to the pub, have a couple of beers and get the spirit back!'
“It's a mental problem, a mental block that leads to the fact they lose the one-v-one battles, they are always a step too late getting into the challenges and are not convinced of finishing things off.
Arne Slot following Liverpool's Champions League defeat PSV Eindhoven at Anfield
Arne Slot is now fighting for his job following Liverpool's nightmare run
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“Maybe they are thinking we overdid it on big transfers in the summer and we have too many so-called future stars on our roster because, at the end of the day, only 11 can play.
“You have three, four, five, six guys who are used to playing and they are not happy. When things go well, everything is quiet, everyone is all right and nobody says a bad word.
“But when things go wrong, behind the scenes people talk to each other, players talk to each other and you have to stop the negative spiral.
"I'm sure he will try to do everything he can to stop it, and then you can only come back with wins. They need a far more physical approach than they did recently. They need to fight first, then play wonderful football.”
Agreeing with the ex-German international, former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley said: “I’m being serious now.
“People might think it was something done 20 or 30 years ago and it certainly was, but sometimes it’s more than dragging players on the training field and slogging them to death.
“Sometimes it’s as simple as that camaraderie. I know people laugh about it, but sometimes players need that.
“There’s a pressure and you need everyone to be together. Sometimes it’s not double sessions on the training field, sometimes it is going for something for a few beers, chilling and chatting about how you’re going to get those relationships again.
“What they’re doing at the moment is not working and if you don’t have the bonding and camaraderie, you’re screwed from the start.”