“We also struggle to keep clean sheets. We haven’t had as many as you would want if you want to go higher up in the table. That is a bad combination to pick up as many points as we want.”
Liverpool chairman Tom Werner, visiting from the United States, was in the directors’ box and won’t have enjoyed what he witnessed.
This wasn’t a tale of Liverpool simply not being ruthless enough in the final third. Yes, they edged it on xG (1.6-1.2) but they had fewer shots on target (four versus seven) and created fewer big chances as defined by Opta (one to two) — despite having 63 per cent of the possession.
What was truly alarming was the sight of the same old issues which have dogged Liverpool all season. There’s a lack of conviction and composure in all departments. They allow games to drift. Midfielder Alexis Mac Allister won just two of his 12 duels. Once again, Liverpool failed to score from open play. Once again, they conceded a truly dreadful goal.
It was so avoidable, with goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario’s long punt not dealt with by Andy Robertson before captain Virgil van Dijk failed to halt Randal Kolo Muani. Joe Gomez, inexplicably, got drawn across and left Richarlison unmarked to score. There’s a glaring fragility to Liverpool and they have now conceded eight Premier League goals in the 90th minute or later in 2025-26 — their most in the competition in a single campaign.
No manager can legislate for senior pros making mistakes like those but the problem for Slot is that, approaching the business end of the season, there’s little sign of him galvanising the talent at his disposal. Their reign as champions has been so stop-start. Every time they seem to generate some momentum, they stumble and let themselves down. Lessons just aren’t being learned.
There are some mitigating circumstances for these struggles, from the tragic death of Diogo Jota, to recruitment decisions made above Slot’s pay grade, signings needing time to adjust to new surroundings, key personnel losing their way and the injury issues which have hampered the team’s progress.
But the biggest reason why Slot is haemorrhaging support among match-going fans is the stale brand of football Liverpool are playing. There’s so little to excite. So little to emotionally invest in. Teenager Rio Ngumoha was a breath of fresh air on his full league debut yesterday with his positivity and directness, but the hosts got considerably worse in the final half-hour after he was subbed off.
Where Klopp provided the chaos, Slot was all about control last season. But even that seems beyond him currently. When Liverpool really needed to take the sting out of this contest in the second half and ideally build on their 1-0 lead, it got fraught and panic set in. Game management was non-existent.
“Because we were not able to score the second goal — that would immediately damage the momentum of the other team,” Slot added. “When it’s still 1-0, it’s normal that the subs the other manager makes, going even more offensive and direct, taking more risks, that can lead to them creating chances but them also being very open for counter-attacks. We didn’t concede chances by being too open or too offensive or being outplayed through midfield. It was from playing balls over the press into our last line.
“All the chances we had in the second half were from when we picked up second balls and counter-attacked them. But the three, four, five times they picked up the second ball, they were a threat. That is probably the belief teams have now when they play against us, and we might be a bit anxious towards the end. That’s normal to start to feel like that when it’s happened so many times.”
When Liverpool signed off 2025 with four straight wins across the Premier League and Europe, there was a belief that they had finally turned a corner after the dark days of autumn. It turned out to be a false dawn. This calendar year, they have won just four of 12 league games, including taking only one point out of the past six on offer against last-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers and struggling Spurs.
Galatasaray, who will be holding a 1-0 first-leg lead when they arrive on Wednesday to decide a Champions League last-16 tie, will fancy their chances of advancing to the quarter-finals on this evidence.
Asked about the growing sense of unrest in the stands, Slot added: “I think it is understandable for fans to be frustrated because it has happened already so many times — the home team not picking up the points they expected and us conceding goals in the last minute. It’s up to me and the players to take that frustration into Wednesday evening and give the fans the kind of performance and the result they deserve because the fans have been so supportive throughout the season.”
Liverpool still have two routes to silverware this season in the FA Cup (they visit Manchester City in the quarter-finals on April 4) and Europe and do now occupy fifth place in the Premier League, which is almost certain to be enough to secure Champions League football next season, thanks to this point. All is not lost.
But the sight of fans leaving in their droves, both at 1-0 up deep into normal time and after Spurs equalised at the start of stoppage time, was damning. They had seen enough and you could hardly blame them, given the paucity of what they had witnessed.
Slot hasn’t reached the point of no return. He could still turn this around, but the clock is ticking.
Liverpool can’t afford another shambles like this one.