Liverpool legend Steve Nicol has given his view on a difficult season for the Premier League champions and the future of Arne Slot under Fenway Sports Group
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot(Image: Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images)
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It is the Liverpool season nobody saw coming. And while there remains Champions League qualification to secure, the thoughts of many are starting to drift towards what should happen next.
A disappointing defence of last year's dominant Premier League title triumph has placed Reds boss Arne Slot under increasing pressure and left in doubt the future of several players.
Talismanic duo Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson have already declared they will depart at the end of the campaign, with more expected to follow with the squad overhaul that started last summer poised to continue.
And for Anfield legend Steve Nicol - now a long-time pundit in the United States for ESPN - while the finger of blame cannot be pointed in just one direction, responsibility ultimately lies in the dugout.
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“Who is at fault? You’d have to say both the manager and the players," he said to the ECHO. “There have been very, very few games where Liverpool have put a passage of 30 minutes together when they are making passes and in control. It just hasn’t been there.
“Players haven’t been missing passes by inches and nearly through, it’s often been nowhere near. It’s been an absolute torture to watch at times. To put your finger on it is impossible.
"But Arne Slot is the manager and when things are going wrong, people will always look to the manager to come up with solutions. He has struggled to find them. But Slot doesn’t pass the ball to the players. He can’t control that part."
Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group have been steadfast in their support of Slot this campaign with there being no suggestion from within the club they are planning without the Dutchman at present.
However, Nicol believes the Anfield hierarchy have a difficult decision to make in the coming weeks as they ramp up preparations for the transfer window.
“I’ve been in his corner until a couple of weeks ago," he said. "The fact he won the league last year means he has credit in the bank, but over the last couple of weeks it has become difficult to come up with reasons why he should stay.
“Liverpool need to spend a lot of money again. It’s not a question now of this squad turning it around. It’s too late for that. Key players are leaving, and it needs new faces on field and somebody or something to ruffle feathers up.
“That’s why Liverpool’s owners have a big question this summer: do they trust this manager with more money to spend when he can’t get a team together with the money that was spent last summer? It will be interesting to see what happens."
Assessing Liverpool's campaign, Nicol added: "If somebody had said last summer that Liverpool wouldn’t have a good season, I’d have expected them to finish third or something like that.
“But there’s not a person who knows anything about football who would have remotely suggested what would happen this season. It’s just bonkers, absolutely bonkers.
“There are about 100 things that have gone wrong. You line them all up. Lots of new players brought in at one time was always going to change things, but then you’re still buying good players and while you can accept a bit of a drop-off at first, the size of it, not even in their worst nightmares would Liverpool have expect it to go this badly.
“Then you throw in injuries as well. Not only is the team as a collective struggling, individually as players they have struggled. Hugo Ekitike and Dominik Szoboszlai are the only two to have impressed, everybody else has been bang average and, for some, that’s being kind. How can they all be like that at the same time?"
While a versatile utility player capable of playing at centre-back and midfield, Nicol forged his reputation as a left-back during the 1980s. So he is in a good position to assess the impact of the exiting Robertson and the debut season of the Scot's long-term replacement Milos Kerkez.
“Andy Robertson is right up there," he said. "People talk about somebody being ‘a Liverpool player’ and, for me, Andy Robertson has always been a Liverpool player. He has been excellent.
“Milos Kerkez had a tough start but he has settled since Christmas and done a lot better. It’s easy to forget it’s definitely a different ball game when you play for a club like Liverpool.
“To play for someone like Bournemouth is fantastic, they are a good Premier League team and play good football. But when you get to Liverpool, it can be difficult coping with the increased level of expectation and maybe that took him by surprise."