Arne Slot has referenced Liverpool only winning the league twice in the last 30 years when asked about what he deems an acceptable season.
“When you are Liverpool, the aim is to win the league, but we only did this twice in the last 30 years,” Slot said when asked what he thinks constitutes an “acceptable” season.
Most fans would argue that, given the Reds were champions last season, at least competing for the league and going deep into most competitions, if not winning silverware, should have been the lowest aim.
Slot was vague when asked what he thinks Liverpool should be achieving, saying: “We want to be competitive in every single competition we are in – that’s always the aim – but reality is also in the last three years, we’ve won one League Cup and one Premier League title.
“So when is things acceptable? I have my opinion about it. I’m not going to share that.
“[The] outside world has its opinion about that. As we all know, a lot’s been said about the £450 million [spent in the summer], but people tend to forget the £300 million we brought in.
“So yeah, I have my opinion about what is acceptable but I’m not going to share that.”
While the Premier League title won’t be won this year, Liverpool can still make the top four, a feat that should be the bare minimum for the champions.
Liverpool’s European form has been better, however, with the Reds currently fourth from 36 in the league phase.
Where Arne Slot thinks Liverpool need to improve
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Sunday, October 19, 2025: Liverpool's Cody Gakpo reacts after missing a chance during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Manchester United FC at Anfield. Man Utd won 2-1. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Slot thinks the season is still salvageable, but only if his team improve at either end of the pitch.
The head coach said: “There’s a complete disbalance in how many times we arrive in promising positions and how many times other teams arrive there (in the box).
“But there is not a disbalance in the goals that are scored, and that’s a very bad cocktail we are having. And if we can improve in both boxes, we can do very special things this season.
“If we can only improve in one box, then it’s probably going to be an acceptable season but not more than that, and if we can’t improve in both boxes, there’s going to be a lot of noise throughout the whole season.”
The truth is, if Liverpool don’t improve in both boxes, they may not qualify for next season’s Champions League and it could cost the Dutchman his job.
While some of what Slot says is true, Liverpool have been poor in both boxes, it is also hard to ignore the ample space Bournemouth had to be able to run through the Reds’ midfield at the weekend.
That suggests that far more is wrong than tweaks in the penalty areas. However, given the relative weakness of the league, it wouldn’t require all of their problems to be fixed for Liverpool to finish in the top four.