Liverpool’s domestic form has disappointed this season, leading many supporters to constantly question if Arne Slot is still up to the task.
THAT was nice, wasn’t it?
Anfield cutting loose. The shoulders of a famous stadium loosening after feeling a tension that hasn’t been around for over a decade.
Liverpool’s mauling of Qarabag painted football in a less torturous light and for that we can all be grateful. Especially because four days prior we were reminded of why this season has been utterly miserable in the main.
The result midweek won’t kill the noise that Arne Slot himself made reference to before Qarabag. There will be those with the knives sharpened before a ball against Newcastle United is kicked on Saturday evening.
Slot has himself stoked the flames with some of his recent press conference talk. I wrote last week about his sense of defeatism creeping in. This week it was replaced with what could be construed, at best, as a change of narrative regarding recent history.
Slot made notable reference to Liverpool winning ‘two titles in 30-years’ last week. Yet it was The Dutchman who coined the phrase ‘two titles in five years, not two in 30’ after last year’s Premier League triumph. Slot also made unnecessary reference to playing Europa League football and losing to Atalanta in the quarter-finals two years ago.
It’s like he’s gone down a rabbit hole on the journey home from Bournemouth and consumed content from the worst possible LFC lads. If he wants to go to war with them I’m fully behind him, but he needs to remember there’s an entire fanbase he’s speaking to in these situations – including those defending him.
Such soundbites will be jumped on by those who demand immediate change. Still, they’re not that egregious.
Seriously, if you think what Arne is churning out is bad, I watched a press conference of Kenny Dalglish’s from 2011-12 the other day where he accused a journalist of making up a rumour about Andy Carroll and followed up by asking how his wife was.
Stories emerged after Wednesday night’s victory that Liverpool didn’t intend to sack the head coach and would stick with him until at least the end of this season.
I have to admit that I was relieved. Although there is a sense of anxiety around the Michael Carrick and Liam Rosenior impact on Manchester United and Chelsea with regards to Champions League qualification, I wouldn’t feel right with Liverpool acting in such a short-term way.
You can point me to Brendan Rodgers or Roy Hodgson and have a point, but both in their own way had become untenable situations. Hodgson was never winning a Premier League title because that was not what he aspired to. That was his comfort zone. For all Rodgers’ mitigation, the Stoke City result should have been something no Liverpool manager walked back from. I include Slot if the season pans out in a similar way.
The question is therefore about us, the collective us. And more so about identity. Who is it we are? What is it we do?
I cannot abide some of the recent language being used against Slot by Liverpool supporters, some of whom I know and respect.
But supporter identity, in general, is more fragmented than ever. Media content can skew narratives that seep into stadiums and boardrooms with drastic effect.
Arsenal’s fanbase is totally influenced and seemingly consumed by it. A minor title setback leads to a cacophony of boos and a queue around The Emirates to gurn with rage in front of a camera.
United are seemingly more loyal to whatever guy is in charge. They remain in full voice at away grounds. They never become visibly mutinous at Old Trafford despite encountering one charlatan after another in the dugout. You can argue their propensity to be shat on from such great heights isn’t such a positive and I’d be inclined to agree, but there’s something admirable in there too.
For Liverpool, a decade of bliss has made this entire season feel like a fever dream. Nobody expected any of this on 1 July 2025. Our entire world came crashing down. Losing to last minute winners, players being injured and the stifling of momentum happens around us while the backdrop of reality remains that one of us died.
The world doesn’t stop. Football doesn’t stop. People still want their leisurely pleasures. Nobody wants to spend their Saturday drawing at home to Burnley.
I haven’t given up on Arne Slot. I don’t think the players have and it seems the Liverpool hierarchy haven’t either. What’s left, even in the shittest of times, is to support.
Wednesday was nice. Give us some more things to get behind please, Liverpool.
