Liverpool may be unbeaten in nine games, but plugging of defensive gaps has come at a cost to their attacking identity.
When Slot arrived in 2024, he said he would try to “find the balance between trying to create chaos at certain moments and trying to keep possession of the ball a bit longer in other moments.”
Last season, he struck the balance perfectly. This season, he has teetered at either end of the seesaw.
The start of the campaign saw Liverpool set out to blow teams away with a swashbuckling style of play and numerous players in advanced positions.
The idea was to play a 4-2-3-1 with Florian Wirtz, Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo providing ammunition for Alexander Isak or Hugo Ekitike.
However, after seven wins to start the season, Liverpool’s cracks began to show.
LONDON, ENGLAND - Saturday, September 27, 2025:Crystal Palace's Eddie Nketiah scores his side's second goal during the FA Premier League match between Crystal Palace FC and Liverpool FC at Selhurst Park. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
The Reds’ worst run of results since 1953 followed, with the nadir being 3-0 and 4-1 home defeats to Nottingham Forest and PSV at the end of November.
Slot had to stop the rot, and he did. Liverpool went from losing nine games in 12 to an unbeaten run of nine matches.
While they have stopped the wave of goals entering their own net, it has come at a cost: they have now been accused of losing their identity.
Dropping Salah to play Dominik Szoboszlai on the right wing was just the first step on this road.
Whereas Liverpool used to be a fearless side, they are now timid, afraid to make mistakes with tactics that too often inhibit the natural instincts of their most talented players.
The numbers behind Liverpool’s attacking struggles
LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, January 4, 2026: Liverpool's head coach Arne Slot after the FA Premier League match between Fulham FC and Liverpool FC at Craven Cottage. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Facing Fulham, Liverpool failed to produce a shot on target other than their two goals and, against Leeds, they managed a post-shot expected goals (PSxG) figure of just 0.77.
A similar example would be Liverpool’s home match against Sunderland that finished 1-1.
What are post-shot expected goals (PSxG)?
Post-shot expected goals are the predicted number of goals a team should score based on the accuracy of their shots taken.
Eg. A shot placed in the top corner has a higher PSxG rating then a shot placed down the middle. Efforts that go wide are rated as zero.
At Anfield, the Reds took 23 shots but created just one big chance, according to FotMob, and produced 0.74 PSxG.
So, while the flow of goals may have been stemmed entering Liverpool’s net, they are struggling to put them in at the other end.
Intensity used to be Liverpool’s identity
LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, January 4, 2026: Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai during the FA Premier League match between Fulham FC and Liverpool FC at Craven Cottage. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
A sign reading ‘intensity is our identity’ once adorned a wall of the coaches office. Well, that must have been taken down because the Reds are more passive than intense nowadays.
Against Fulham, Wirtz was visibly frustrated in the first half as he tried to urge his team forward due to him and Szoboszlai effectively being left to press on their own.
Marco Silva’s side cut through Liverpool’s first lines of defence easily and while they mightn’t have ultimately created much in the final third, neither did the Reds.
In theory, Liverpool’s new mid-block should set them up to break quickly, but for that they at least need outlets who are fast. A front two of Wirtz and Gakpo simply doesn’t offer that.
And this is where Slot can arguably be cut some slack.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - New Year's Day, Thursday, January 1, 2026: (L-R) Liverpool's Federico Chiesa is challenged by Leeds United's Pascal Struijk during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Leeds United FC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Liverpool came into the campaign with fewer attackers than last season. They also came into the season knowing AFCON would take Salah away.
Injuries haven’t been kind either. Hugo Ekitike missed out on Sunday because he has played too often, according to the head coach.
Alexander Isak is injured and Federico Chiesa probably isn’t of the required level.
At the moment, Slot arguably does not have the tools to play the way he wants, hence the negative tactics on display.
However, Jurgen Klopp was no stranger to injury crises either. While he would tinker with the system, he often relied on youngsters to fill gaps left by absent seniors.
LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, February 25, 2024: Liverpool's Jayden Danns celebrates with the trophy after the Football League Cup Final match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium. Liverpool won 1-0 after extra-time. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Talented left-winger Rio Ngumoha could have been given an opportunity to step up on multiple occasions this season.
However, he has played just 48 minutes in the league despite his development supposedly having been the reason Liverpool didn’t pursue Rodrygo or another more experienced attacker in the summer.
OK, Ngumoha and Chiesa aren’t the answer to all of Liverpool’s problems, but a coach whose “philosophy on football hasn’t changed,” according to Slot himself, would have been more likely to stick to his guns.
He could have put his belief in fringe players and coached them to become better. That hasn’t been the case so far.
Safety-first approach is sign of wavering beliefs
LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, January 4, 2026: Liverpool's head coach Arne Slot before the FA Premier League match between Fulham FC and Liverpool FC at Craven Cottage. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Some of the alterations have been compared to the beginning of Brendan Rodgers’ end, when he went 13 league games unbeaten as he switched to a back three and played Emre Can in defence.
It was a temporary change, but it wasn’t a long-term solution or system in which Liverpool could ever prosper.
This is where we are currently with Liverpool: Slot is plugging gaps and doing his best to fix the leaks, but in doing so, we are losing the core of what made Liverpool great.
Now, the chaos Slot wanted is at the wrong end and the possession with which his side ‘killed teams’ last season is ineffective and easy for the opposition to cope with.
If Liverpool are to rekindle their flame, a better balance must be the aim they strive for.