Before a ball was kicked this season, I knew that we’d all have to be very patient. In spite of the excitement of the incomings in the summer, with celebrations over signing the most exciting player in Europe in Florian Wirtz and the thrill of the chase with Alexander Isak, we’d simply endured too much upheaval for things to run smoothly. Paul Tomkins has done plenty of work showing that new signings tend not to actually do all that well at their new clubs until the season after they’re signed, so it was always going to be wishful thinking that we just exploded out of the blocks. Then there is the Diogo Jota factor, which I think too many people continue to underestimate. There is no question that the players have been deeply affected by the loss of the forward, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable to imagine that Arne Slot might well have been impacted by it too. It isn’t just that he’s having to deal with the loss, but also that he has to shoulder the pain of the players under his tutelage, so I’m not sure that it should come as a shock that he hasn’t looked himself.
The Wolves squad laid flowers in memory of Diogo Jota at Anfield ahead of playing Liverpool.
Jota’s sons, Dinis and Duarte, will be mascots for the first game between his two English clubs since their father’s death ❤️
— Men in Blazers Media Network (@meninblazers.bsky.social) 26 December 2025 at 22:45
Finally, there is the lack of balance to the squad. I’m not going to go over old ground about why I’m pleased that we didn’t sign Marc Guehí, but I was strong in my conviction that we did need a centre-back, even if he wasn’t the one I wanted. Defensively, we look light to say the least, whilst we have no real balance at all with our attacking players. No one foresaw the manner in which Mo Salah’s form fell off a cliff edge, with the Egyptian being one of those most affected by the passing of Diogo. Those responsible for putting the Liverpool squad together should have been able to predict the issues we’ve got on the left, though. Cody Gakpo, for all of his goalscoring exploits, loves nothing more than to cut inside and hit a shot, invariably seeing it either go over the bar or straight into a defender. Rio Ngumoha, meanwhile, was 16 at the time and is only just 17 now. The idea that bringing anyone in would ‘block his pathway’ is clearly ridiculous. Sadly, though, modern football fans refuse to think about context and have no time for nuance, so we are where we are.
The Natives Are Restless
When the full-time whistle blew on Saturday afternoon, drawing to a close a match in which Liverpool and Burnley had drawn 1-1, boos could be heard in certain sections of Anfield. It represented the first time since the 1980-1981 season that the Reds had failed to beat any of the newly promoted teams at their home ground. The Anfield Wrap’s post-match show was filled with anger, no one pulling their punches about what they had seen. Online, never exactly somewhere that offers the most reasonable of takes, people were comparing Arne Slot with Roy Hodgson. Wherever you looked, it felt as though the tide had turned and the manager (or should that be Head Coach?) was drowning. When the Anfield crowd turns, it is difficult to picture a world in which the person in the dugout can recover. As much as I always try to look at the positives and attempt to be as fair as possible, as I hope the introduction conveys, I can’t say I blame some of those losing their patience. This is the latest in a number of frustrating results, leaving the Reds well off the pace.
Liverpool 1-0 Burnley HT
Florian Wirtz put Liverpool ahead late in the first half after Dominik Szoboszlai had missed a penalty.
Burnley have provided little in the way of attacking threat so far.
— Opta Analyst (@optaanalyst.optajoe.com) 17 January 2026 at 15:49
The moment that might have pushed most people over the edge came when Liverpool seemed to have a counterattack available to them, only for Dominik Szoboszlai to put his foot on the ball and slow things down. As Anfield groaned, Slot applauded the midfielder. To his critics, it looked like a moment in which the Dutchman was confirming that it was in his plan to make things as slow and ponderous as possible. It has felt that way all season, of course, so it isn’t a shock that it has happened again. Certainly, I was frustrated, given the fact that what low block defences want more than anything is for the opposition to be as slow as molasses, so we were playing right into their hands. The one criticism I think that it is entirely fair to level at Slot is that he has never made any attempts to harness the power of Anfield. Liverpool supporters want full-throttle football, so if they don’t get that, then they aren’t going to be shy in letting you know why that is a problem. For the former Feyenoord boss, he either changes his ways or his days will definitely be numbered.
We Actually Played Well Against Burnley
Having made the case for the prosecution, it is only right that I do so for the defence. There is, in my mind at least, something of an irony that the Burnley game proved to be the tipping point for many. I thought we actually played well against Scott Parker’s side, with the underlying numbers backing up that viewpoint. I am more than aware of the fact that not everyone likes xG, but what it does is give you a sense of whether a team played well or whether any result was something of a smash and grab. The stats from Saturday were 2.96 – 0.4, in Liverpool’s favour. In other words, we gave Burnley a shellacking, but they got a lucky break and we didn’t. That sense of luck not being on our side is something that I think has been present in our matches all season long, as much as a lot of people don’t like to acknowledge the importance of fortune in football results. If you look at the work of Dan Kennett, he has shown that Liverpool have been on the right track for some time now, looking at the underlying numbers, undone by an abysmal period of losses.
In almost every way, this is what a very good performance looks like. If you remove the scoreline from it, it’s good stuff.
Chances, shape, danger zones, involvements are all good.The worrying things:
-The substitutions are vibey and momentum-killing.
-Szoboszlai being just ok is not enough.— Antoine Maratray (@antoinemara14.bsky.social) 17 January 2026 at 20:48
The problem in the eyes of most is that underlying numbers aren’t what matters. Whilst that is unquestionably true, they are what those in charge of Liverpool like to look at to make their decisions. Is Arne Slot a dead man walking, with Fenway Sports Group merely biding their time until a suitable replacement is available to come in instead? Or have John Henry, Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes studied the numbers and realised that it is more likely that things turn for the better under the Dutchman than get worse? I am certainly far from convinced by any arguments that suggest that the players are no longer playing for Slot. I think a lot of them are more than willing to acknowledge that we’ve been dealt a bum deal this season, happy to carry on with a man who won them the league last time out. It doesn’t mean that we can continue to be mediocre forever, but many decided to write this campaign off before a ball was kicked, of which I imagine more than a few are involved in Liverpool’s hierarchy. It is as much about what comes next than what has gone before.
