It was a day to forget for Arne Slot and Liverpool on Sunday. Thoroughly beaten in every department by Newcastle United, the Reds’ hopes of adding a cup to their trophy haul this season were slashed under the Wembley arch.
It’s just days after Liverpool were stunned at home to Paris Saint-Germain, with the French side dumping them out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage. As a result, Liverpool’s season is at risk of petering towards its end.
The good news for Slot is the league title is all but wrapped up. Heading into the international break, Liverpool boast a 12-point lead over second-placed Arsenal, with both sides having played 29 matches. However, even if the Merseysiders finish top of the pile, the Dutch manager might have been given a glimpse into his future during Sunday’s League Cup final.
They looked a shell of themselves in the final third, with Mohamed Salah failing to register a shot or create a chance during a 90-minute performance for the first time in his Liverpool career. But it was the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold that will have left Slot fretting the most.
The right-back limped off injured during Wednesday’s defeat against PSG and appeared to be in some discomfort. Now, with just nine matches of the season left to play and Alexander-Arnold’s contract set to expire in the summer, there is some chatter that the Englishman could’ve played his final game in a red shirt.
Even if he does return before the season’s curtain call, with the expectation being that Alexander-Arnold is Real Madrid-bound, Slot will still need to find a way of reinventing Liverpool’s attack next season. Given that Alexander-Arnold is such a unique profile, replacing him like for like would prove an impossible task - Slot is going to have to come up with something new.
That isn’t even to mention that Virgil van Dijk and goal-fiend Salah are both in the final few months of their deals too. It could prove a busy off-season for Slot as he aims to prove this season wasn’t just a one-off.
It could mean Liverpool look to spend big on a creative midfielder, in an attempt to replicate Alexander-Arnold’s productivity, but in a different area of the pitch. Somebody like Florian Wirtz for example. Or perhaps they eye a centre-forward, who will not only help create, but also take the goal burden off Liverpool’s talisman Salah. Either way, there’s a problem Slot will have to fix next season.