As the ‘outside noise’ grows louder the stakes have never been higher for Arne Slot’s Liverpool
Liverpool have only lost once in their last 14 games. They sit fourth in the Champions League table, level on points with Real Madrid, above Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona. Their last two European nights have brought away wins over Internazionale and Marseille.
It is not the whole picture, though; it cannot be, when they are sixth in the Premier League, 14 points off the pace. A long unbeaten run came to an end at Bournemouth on Saturday. It brought a chorus of criticism: the “outside noise”, as Arne Slot called it. Much of it is concentrated around him. A title-winning manager may have lost the backing of some Liverpool supporters; it can seem so at such times. And if part of the issue is that too many of those 13 undefeated matches were actually draws that produced frustration, Slot is aware that if victories bring respite, setbacks prompt another outcry. Which, in itself, is revealing. The soundtrack can reflect a dissatisfaction with him.
“I think it’s going to be really difficult to quiet the outside noise with the position we are in in the league so even if we win a few games, every loss or every disappointing result will start the noise coming back again,” he said. “That’s what you can expect if you started the season as we did; not started, but at a certain moment with so many losses. So it’s impossible to shut down the noise at a club like this if you are not competing for the league.”
Which Liverpool are not. Slot pointed out that Liverpool have only won it twice in three decades; as is his wont, he tried to offset talk of their £450m spending last summer by saying they brought in £300m. Yet others of his numbers stood up to less scrutiny.
He argued Liverpool are suffering from competing on multiple fronts and turned his attention to last season’s Champions League. “This is not going to be a popular opinion but I am going to tell you: maybe the reason why we won the league last season is that we had to play Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16,” he said. “Because as you know they beat us and [then] we had every time a week to prepare for our game.”
Yet when PSG eliminated Liverpool, they were 15 points clear in the Premier League, with only nine games to go; it would have taken an almighty collapse to stop them from becoming champions.
But it can represent part of a picture of a manager grasping for explanations. If the league table never lies, one suggests Liverpool are the fourth best team in Europe, the other that they are only the sixth finest in England. Slot suggested one is the consequence of the other. “I think the biggest struggle we have is that we have to play in both leagues, which is what we want, by the way,” he said. “But too many times after a Champions League game we’ve lost. A lot of away games included.” Indeed, Liverpool have four defeats on the weekends after European fixtures, each on the road.
Slot felt exhaustion caught up with them in the final minutes at Bournemouth. They can seem permanently stretched, their expensive revamp leaving them with a squad that was too small and then further reduced by injuries. “It’s almost constantly the same players that have to play,” said Slot, who is down to one available centre-back for Wednesday’s game with Qarabag, in captain Virgil van Dijk. Win that, and at least Liverpool have two midweeks off in February and an immediate passage to the last 16.
The stakes for the remainder of their season are considerable. Champions League qualification has a huge financial importance; there is also the question if Slot regains the faith of the more angry among the fanbase and retains it of the quiet figures in the boardroom.
All of which could depend on whether Liverpool find a formula. “I think in between the boxes. we are a very, very, very, very good team,” said Slot. “But there is a complete disbalance in how many times we arrive in promising positions and how many times other teams arrive there. But there is not a disbalance in the goals that are scored and that’s a very bad cocktail. If we can only improve in one box, then it’s going to be probably an acceptable season, but not more than that. And if we can’t improve in both boxes, it’s going to be a lot of noise throughout the whole season.”
But what constitutes acceptable? Five months ago, it might have involved retaining the title, or at least coming close. Now that is impossible; so, too, a Carabao Cup run. The Champions League and FA Cup offer the only chances of silverware. Sixth in the Premier League seems unacceptable.
“I have my opinion about what is acceptable, but I am not going to share that,” said Slot. The outside noise, however, will reveal the wider world’s view. The inside noise in the corridors of power may be quieter but more significant.
