“Lightweight” Liverpool “offered next to nothing” – but was it “worst” day under Arne Slot?

It’s not often that the media have reacted negatively to a Liverpool game this season, but deserved criticism came their way after losing to Plymouth.

A weakened and disappointing Reds side were beaten 1-0 at Home Park on Sunday afternoon, as their FA Cup journey came to an end.

Granted, Liverpool have plenty of big days ahead of them this season, but going out of any competition is never enjoyable.

Here is how the media reacted to a rare Reds defeat.

Arne Slot’s changes didn’t pay off…

Jason Burt of the Telegraph focused on Liverpool’s highly unlikely quadruple dream dying on the south coast:

“Quadruple no more. Not this season. Yes, Arne Slot made 10 changes. Yes, he left the big guns like Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk at home.

“Yes, he lost captain Joe Gomez early on and, yes, the Liverpool head coach is prioritising other competitions.

[…]

“This was also, undoubtedly, the worst Liverpool have played in their 30 matches under Slot who cut an agitated figure on the touchline.

“It was only their fourth defeat of the season in all competitions and, after the Premier League loss at home to Nottingham Forest last September, the only one that mattered.”

David Lynch was under illusions as to where this ranked in Liverpool’s list of priorities:

“Liverpool crash out of the FA Cup at the hands of a deserving Plymouth. So lightweight in midfield and the forwards never seemed to get to grips with an imperfect pitch.

“That said, Slot’s selection and substitutions hardly suggested this competition was his top priority, either.”

The Guardian‘s Jonathan Liew wasn’t stunned by the result, but did admit that Liverpool weren’t good enough:

“For Slot and his players there will be pressing questions to answer about selection and application, a weakened line-up that should still have got the job done.

“Instead Liverpool played like exactly what they were: a team that had barely played together before.

“For a team that is basically built on chemistry, understanding instincts honed and shared, this is a bigger problem than it would be somewhere else.”

The Mirror‘s Mark Jones said Slot’s risk backfired, on a disappointing day for the boss:

“For Liverpool much of the build-up to this game was dominated by interest in just which players would be present – or more accurately the ones who wouldn’t be.

“Ten changes were made from the side which beat Tottenham 4-0 in the Carabao Cup semi-final, but more importantly eight of those players who dropped out didn’t even make the bench, with Slot opting to completely omit several stars who will start Wednesday’s final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.

“It was a similar strategy to the one we saw him adopt in the Champions League tie at PSV Eindhoven, but with defeat there not coming with any consequence, this time it was certainly more of a risk, and so it proved.”

Too many Liverpool players failed to turn up…

In his player ratings, GOAL‘s Harry Sherlock was not impressed with Federico Chiesa‘s offering:

“Offered next to nothing down the right flank. It’s in games like this when your senior players have to step up; Chiesa did not.”

Harvey Elliott, Federico Chiesa, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota played 103 minutes vs. the worst team in the Championship.

0.24 xG and 0.37 xA between them.

— Jack Lusby (@LusbyJack) February 9, 2025

That was always going to happen today when making so many changes to create a disjointed side on a bobbly pitch against iron-born defenders.

The more senior pros are the ones toward whom frustration will likely be vented.#LFC #FACup

— Sam Millne (@sam_millne) February 9, 2025

On X, BBC Sport’s Charlotte Coates felt Liverpool’s senior players let the side down:

“Terrible performance but you can’t blame Arne Slot for resting the likes of Van Dijk, Salah etc.

“Wednesday is huge and the senior players today need a long look at themselves after that.”