A former Liverpool player’s honest thoughts about Arne Slot have gone viral following the Premier League champions’ 2-1 loss at Wolves on Tuesday night. The Reds made hard work of a meeting with the competition’s rock-bottom club, and after Mohamed Salah equalised following Rodrigo Gomes’ opener, the Old Gold won it at the death through Andre’s deflected long-range effort.
With the clock ticking into the 94th minute when the decisive goal hit the back of the net, Liverpool have now set the record for the most losses in stoppage time in a single top-flight campaign, with five. More worryingly, however, Slot and Co. have managed just nine wins across their last 24 league matches - a win rate of 37.5 per cent.
That statistic, coupled with the fact a team that spent much of their £450 million war chest on new attacking signings have been so boring to watch, has brought about renewed speculation over their manager. One voice that has been particularly loud about it on social media of late is Jermaine Pennant.
MixCollage-25-Mar-2025-09-48-AM-7183 Related
Supercomputer Predicts 2025-26 Premier League Table in Full
The Premier League table could look very different in some key areas by the time May rolls around.
Slot's Tactics Slammed by Former Liverpool Star After Wolves Loss
Liverpool manager Arne Slot reacts while facing Wolves
Jermaine Pennant played 81 times for the Reds between 2006 and 2008, scoring just three goals. While he is better known nowadays as one of the club’s least successful signings at the very start of their slide down the table and into a fallen-giant slumber, he remains very vocal in his support for the team online.
This week, he slammed Arne Slot for setting his side up in a way that made them appear either too respectful of Wolves or too lazy to force the issue, with their lack of a press boggling the now-43-year-old's mind. Writing on X (see the full post below), he said:
"Right, I know Arne Slott isn’t on the pitch, but wow!!! They are his tactics, his style, and his instructions… you are playing Wolves, not Arsenal, not Man City. Press them from the front for once, try win the ball high. This is not Liverpool, sorry, it’s just not.
Although Liverpool finished the match with 66 per cent of possession, many will feel the players lacked any real urgency until a lapse in concentration in defence jolted them into life late on - by which point it was too late to rescue the three points they needed to strengthen their push for a top-five finish and Champions League qualification.
Pennant Calls for Rio Ngumoha to Start Over Cody Gakpo
liverpool rio ngumoha
Slot continues to persist in his faith that Cody Gakpo is his best option on the left wing, but 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha keeps coming off the bench to twist the needle in opposition defences, open up the field of play, and raise the question of whether he might be ready for more first-team minutes. This was another point Pennant was keen to make, writing (see his second post below):
"Also, Rio now must start on Friday night, AGAIN did more than Gakpo when he came on then what Gakpo did the whole game, you know why he did more? 'Cause he goes to the byline, he cuts inside, he’s not predictable. WHY on earth isn’t Slot telling him? If every single fan thinking it."
Gakpo has been the scapegoat for much of this campaign. While some of that criticism - especially around his predictability - is justified, at other times it is not. However, his manager’s reluctance to ever drop him feels like the wider issue, with speculation around a new winger signing this summer ramping up amid the sense that Luis Diaz’s exit has not yet been properly addressed.
Liverpool are next in action on Friday night when they welcome Wolves back to Anfield in the FA Cup. The Reds will be hoping for a much better result this time around with a performance to match, otherwise the curtains could continue to close on their Dutch manager.