The fallout from Liverpool’s embarrassing defeat at Man City continues to bring into question Arne Slot‘s future, with a daunting trip to Paris now on the horizon.
Liverpool lost their 15th game of the season over the weekend, the most since 2014/15, the latest in a list of new lows.
The 4-0 defeat was the heaviest in Slot’s time at Anfield, and now their final hopes of silverware rest on progressing from a two-legged tie against Paris Saint-Germain.
For supporters, belief in Slot has diminished rapidly, and while the media have steadfastly reported on support for the Dutchman from FSG, even their tune has shifted.
Liverpool’s standards have slipped, with attitudes questioned
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - Saturday, April 4, 2026: Liverpool's Milos Kerkez (L) and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili react to conceding the third goal during the FA Cup Quarter Final match between Manchester City FC and Liverpool FC at the City of Manchester Stadium. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
With Dominik Szoboszlai and Virgil van Dijk both openly admitting that the team all but gave up at the Etihad, there can be no shying away from the seismic shift in the dressing room.
James Pearce, of the Athletic, did not hold back, assessing Liverpool as “mentality minnows” who feel sorry for themselves rather than embracing the responsibility:
“Slot’s Liverpool look so brittle, so broken. Rather than dig deep when faced with adversity, they wilt. The “mentality monsters” the Dutchman’s predecessor Jurgen Klopp used to talk about now resemble mentality minnows.
“The body language is so poor — too many players feeling sorry for themselves rather than taking responsibility.”
The *Times*‘ Paul Joyce echoed the concerns of many, that Liverpool no longer have a Jordan Henderson or James Milner to drive the standards:
“When the captain, Virgil van Dijk, is admitting the team essentially gave up at one point during the FA Cup quarter-final and Dominik Szoboszlai, who views himself as a future skipper, concedes “none of us” were fighting “as much as we could”, then there could hardly be a bigger indictment of the present malaise.
“Attitudes have altered and standards have certainly slipped. That reflects terribly on the players and also the man supposed to be inspiring them. What they would give to have someone like Jordan Henderson or James Milner back in the fold right now. Time for a new group to step up when it’s difficult.”
The bare minimum is to show fight and desire, but the *Mail*‘s Lewis Steele rightly underscored that the “manner of this defeat that was most worrying”:
“The FA Cup is not top priority but it was the manner of this defeat that was most worrying.
“Where was the fight? Where was the belief? Where were the signs of hope, even in defeat, that fans could cling on as they trudged back across the East Lancashire Road?”
Arne Slot’s future at a crossroad vs. PSG
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - Saturday, April 4, 2026: Liverpool's head coach Arne Slot reacts to his side conceding the second during the FA Cup Quarter Final match between Manchester City FC and Liverpool FC at the City of Manchester Stadium. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
It all, rightly, piles the pressure on the doorstep of Slot, who has struggled to inspire a turnaround from his side, with a handful of ‘positive’ results only papering over the cracks.
The media turned dramatically after Saturday’s defeat, and continued to do so in the aftermath, with Steele aptly saying Slot is “sleepwalking dangerously at the cliff edge”:
“A season that, do not forget, started with them spending £450 million on new signings from a position of strength having won the league. Forget any talk of a ‘transition’ year, that is a lame excuse only used in hindsight. This was supposed to be the time when they began building a dynasty.
“They were the best team in the land and were meant to only get better. Instead, they got worse. And they are still plunging lower now.
[…]
“Slot turned for the home straight of the season wanting to show the doubters wrong, aiming to silence the dissenters, trying to earn back some trust with fans and demonstrate why he is the man to lead this team forward.
“All he did was add fuel to the flames as said backing in him eroded even further, from the stands at least. He is now sleepwalking dangerously at the cliff edge.
“Liverpool’s hierarchy are behind Slot but how long can that last?”
Pearce reported that a successful FA Cup run would not have saved Slot’s job this summer, nor would bowing out of the competition, but it is the state of the performance that “should set alarm bells ringing.”
Put simply, “excuses are wearing thin” and the season completely unravelling will make his position “untenable”:
“The buck stops with Slot. The ease with which opponents are able to play through Liverpool points to glaring tactical issues. He’s been unable to find solutions to the problems that have dogged his soon-to-be-deposed Premier League champions all season and excuses are wearing thin.
[…]
“FSG wants to give the Dutchman the chance to put things right next season, but that position will be untenable if the campaign completely unravels in the coming weeks.”
*Liverpool Echo*‘s Ian Doyle questioned the players’ faith in Slot and how the early walkout of matchgoing fans is a damning verdict:
“Have some of the players lost faith in Slot? It’s not implausible. But their own professional pride should have meant they didn’t down tools at the Etihad and instead retain hope of some reward from the season.
“That so many matchgoing supporters departed the Etihad long before the final whistle will not have passed unnoticed by Fenway Sports Group. The owners want to give Slot every chance to atone for his campaign but their patience is not limitless, and the actions of those who pay their hard-earned to watch the Reds will have some influence.”
Finally, Joyce voiced what the general consensus regarding the midweek trip to PSG is, that it could “become a theatre of nightmares” that decides what the next move is:
“Slot must find a way out of this mess to ease the pressure, but the chances of straightening everything out are far more complicated when his squad effectively confesses it picks and chooses when to perform. Jürgen Klopp occasionally had to rant at his Liverpool squad and, when he did so, he carried a fear factor that left no one in any doubt about the direction of travel.
“The Champions League has provided some respite for Liverpool this term, but the Parc des Princes has the potential to become a theatre of nightmares if there is any repeat of the period immediately before and after the interval, when Erling Haaland made hay.
“A perfect performance is required when everything about this team is imperfect. Should they return to Merseyside with everything still to play for, then what would that really prove other than it was all about the attitude all along.”