Arne Slot is doing this the wrong way around. He was never supposed to hit the ground running at Liverpool.
Once he did, the elevation of expectation was extraordinary. The runaway Reds were the best thing in town – there was no nuance.
Liverpool were on for a quadruple, as headline-writers suffered from a rush of blood to the head. Slot could control the narrative as long as it was a fairytale, but football is no such thing.
The perfect start for Slot
The Dutchman’s reign has been marked by the mood music before each international break.
An unconvincing first half against Ipswich aside, Liverpool started well with three wins in succession, signing off with a victory at Old Trafford.
No more Jurgen Klopp mourning, extra bonus points all round and the main takeaway that this Slot guy was quietly impressive.
A stumble at home to Nottingham Forest followed, which perversely took the pressure and focus off a bit, but they remounted the horse.
A win at Crystal Palace with a crocked Alisson and a goalscoring Diogo Jota – remember that? – meant six league wins out of seven before the October pit stop.
Before November’s hiatus, a 2-0 win over Aston Villa followed a 4-0 thumping of Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, meaning a five-point lead over Man City and a 10-point advantage over Arsenal.
Slot promised to help his daughter with examinations live on TV. Happy days with happy families.
Is this the bit where Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola started to realise their street fight was being gatecrashed by some bloke from Feyenoord?
So we came to late November and the double-whammy 2-0 wins over City and Real Madrid, elevating the Slot effect to maximum power.
He was even a master in a crisis, rearranging the deckchairs against Fulham to make it seem like Liverpool had 11 players on the pitch and they had 10.
Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League has stretched to 12 points over Arteta’s injury-ravaged set-piece engine, while Guardiola has been reduced to talking about “nine Cup finals” to make the Champions League.
Liverpool’s first wobble under the new boss
Then the creaking sound of the Ides of March came along. March 15 was the last day that the Reds felt in control.
The real damage to the Liverpool results cruncher was the loss to Paris Saint-Germain before ‘Anfield South’ turned black and white.
That seismic crash after dominating the group stage like Max Verstappen dominates qualifying didn’t sit right.
Slot is realising that knockout football is harsh, with the Liverpool boss admitting that “even Liverpool can lose football games.” Up to this point, he was so good at losing the ‘right’ ones.
Popularity for the Dutchman was always going to be incremental after nine years of full-on emotion, come rain, wind, shine or storm.
The start – eleven league wins, one draw and one loss – defied belief. Yes, these were Klopp’s players, but the new boy had to get a tune out of them and he knew how to get a symphony.
But a symphony is in four movements and the last and longest one has gone out of tune. Liverpool’s defeat to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final was a logical failure.
Slot looked stressed from the start, and as soon as Luis Diaz fluffed his lines against Kieran Trippier, there was a hangdog expression about him on the sideline.
Liverpool were the useful idiots for Eddie Howe’s big day out. The Newcastle storm had been brewing, the desperation of fans, players and coach all placed an importance on the occasion that overwhelmed a thin red line that walked into the trap.
The week from hell started with a soft goal against Southampton and ended with a consolation from the lesser-spotted Federico Chiesa at Wembley.
Putting the same troops on the frontline for months on end is unsustainable.
Time to focus on No. 20
Liverpool completed the highest-recorded pass completion rate against Brentford on Slot’s second day at Premier League school.
Maybe that’s why it didn’t feel as electric as the days of thunder under Klopp.
Liverpool were killing teams softly in the first act – now they are running on fumes without the fist pumps.
The jeopardy and edginess that Reds fans have become accustomed to over the years when the games were more like basketball wasn’t present in Slot’s opening gambit.
The edginess has returned, even though a first Premier League title in front of fans is almost a certainty.
Slot’s crime? He’s not kept the balls juggling.
No longer are Liverpool the best team in the world or European royalty. Those classic April and May nights will have to be in 2026.
The Reds haven’t had an international break this bleak for a while, so Slot needs to raise the pulse and make the Premier League a procession.
No one seems to care right now that this squad hasn’t lost a league match since September. Once the hangover lifts, the next match is at Anfield against Everton. There can’t be any passengers there.
The 20th title will be won unless squeaky bum time gets a second wind. Liverpool will have the last word, alright.
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