There was one reaction during the PSV loss that Slot's biographer had never seen before
In Holland they have a word for it: wanhoop.
Roughly translated it means despair or hopelessness. And that is the way that some of those close to Arne Slot, Liverpool’s under-pressure head coach, have described his demeanour as the walls start to close in at Anfield.
“Everyone in Holland thinks he’s a magician because of the results he’s achieved in his managerial career. For the first time now we realise he’s a normal manager, a normal human being,” Mikos Gouka, Slot’s biographer and author of the recently released Arne Slot: A New Era, tells The i Paper.
Gouka has been in regular contact with Slot in recent weeks, exchanging frequent text messages with the Liverpool boss.
Slot has spoken of his frustration and admitted that things “aren’t going good” but has tried to keep conversations centred around his former Eredivisie clubs and the Dutch national team, which Slot retains a keen interest in.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 26: Mohamed Salah of Liverpool reacts after the team's defeat in 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 are in a mighty rut (Photo: Getty)
One message – about Liverpool’s inability to defend the long throw-ins of Brentford – was met with an artful change of subject.
“It’s one of the things people who really know him like about him, Arne doesn’t change. He always replies and always has smooth words,” Gouka says.
Slot had spoken of a desperation to win against PSV Eindhoven, who are managed by his coaching rival Peter Bosz, so the midweek defeat will have been particularly painful.
“I don’t see fear him in, he doesn’t operate this way,” Gouka says.
“But I do see something I’ve never seen before: when PSV got the third and fourth goals, I saw his eyes going down which I’d never seen before.
“You could see ‘We’re going to lose again’ was the thinking. I think he’s always convinced in his own qualities so it won’t be fear but there is maybe a sense of ‘What can I do next?'”
That is the £250m question at Anfield, where a summer of upheaval in the transfer market was meant to remodel the squad to play Slot’s preferred style of attacking, full-control football.
But that vision has fallen apart to leave the 47-year-old fighting for his job. Some of the problems aren’t of his making – dysfunctional recruitment has left Liverpool’s squad short in defensive areas and overloaded with attacking talent unable to fit into the system – but others are.
In-game changes have been poor, while Slot has not been ruthless enough with players not meeting his exacting standards on work-rate. Mohamed Salah has played 18 times this season without ever coming close to the sort of performances which lit up Liverpool’s title win last season.
Liverpool also seem to have misjudged Premier League trends by signing artisans like Florian Wirtz in a season where styles have swung towards the more physical and direct.
These are issues that Slot has never experienced before. His glittering CV does not include anything more than a couple of blips of form – Dutch football watchers remember a run of four draws as manager of AZ Alkmaar that drew criticism – and he has never operated under this kind of pressure before. Really, Slot is in uncharted territory.
“He always said he likes pressure and works best like this,” Gouka says.
“But the difference in Holland is that you have some bad results but then one of the weaker teams in the division are your next opponents so you get relief. In England you lose a game and the next match is against West Ham or Nottingham Forest, who are strong teams.”
The official word at Anfield is that Slot’s position is not under imminent threat and that position won’t change regardless of what happens at the London Stadium against a resurgent West Ham on Sunday.
But a run of nine defeats in 12 games – and a string of unconvincing performances stretching back to the end of their title season – is clearly unsustainable.
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The manner of recent defeats – 10 goals shipped in three games – suggests things are getting worse rather than better and Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group will be monitoring events closely.
Defending their title is now nion impossible but a five-point gap to the best of the rest must be eroded in matches against West Ham, Leeds and Sunderland. If qualification for the Champions League is under threat they are likely to act.
“He will recover. I’m convinced of that, Liverpool under Arne will win matches again,” Gouka says.
“But the question is will it be enough? To finish fifth or sixth is not enough at a club like Liverpool and he knows that.”