Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Liverpool’s current head coach Arne Slot drew comparisons with Shankly after the home defeat by Nottingham Forest at Anfield on Saturday – but not in a good way.
The 3-0 scoreline was only the second time since April 1965, when Shankly was manager, that Liverpool had lost back-to-back league games by three or more goals, following defeat at Manchester City.
This brutally illustrated the scale of the current decline of last season’s Premier League champions. It was also a sixth league defeat in seven games, leaving Liverpool 12th, 11 points behind leaders Arsenal.
Liverpool’s embarrassment was witnessed by chairman Tom Werner, who flew in from the United States to be greeted by a gruesome spectacle that leaves Slot, who masterminded a Premier League title win in his first season, under increasing pressure.
So what issues must Slot solve to ease that pressure, and fight off claims that Liverpool spent almost £450m in the summer only to send a successful team into a tailspin?
Werner left Anfield on Saturday after watching a display from Alexander Isak that left many questioning what exactly ownership group FSG had bought for their £125m.
The Swede was Liverpool’s marquee summer signing, acquired from Newcastle United after a prolonged, acrimonious pursuit that included the striker downing tools to get his move.
The British record fee came after Liverpool spent £116m on Germany’s Florian Wirtz, who is yet to record a goal or assist in the Premier League this season.
Wirtz, who has struggled with the Premier League’s physical intensity and is yet to look a neat fit either in a role behind Liverpool’s striker or out on the left, was out injured against Forest.
The pair have undoubted quality, but Slot needs to get them delivering very soon. It is the very least £241m should deliver.
It was Isak who brought Liverpool’s struggles into sharp relief with an abysmal individual performance against Forest.
Isak arrived at Liverpool under-cooked after his Newcastle exile, while a groin injury also stalled his settling-in period but, even taking these factors into consideration, he was alarmingly poor before Slot called time on him after 68 minutes.
Isak, who proved his brilliance on Tyneside, was non-existent, his body language defeatist. Lightweight, lethargic, lost.
The statistics deliver a damning indictment. Isak had 14 touches, 11 in the first half, only two in the opening 25 minutes.
Isak’s lack of impact prompted justifiable claims that even the much-maligned and now departed Darwin Nunez would have at least run around a bit in a bid to make things happen.
Hugo Ekitike has been the success of Liverpool’s summer incomings, but Slot’s decision to start with Isak meant the Frenchman was reduced to a substitute’s role, playing on the left-flank against Forest when he came on after 55 minutes.
Ekitike is Liverpool’s top scorer with six this season and has also scored his first goal for France. Selecting Isak ahead of him lacked logic, smacking of a manager groping for answers, almost trying to get an expensive signing to play himself into the team.
There is little evidence, so far, that both can play together. At a cost of almost £200m, it looks like one or other must settle for a place on the bench.
Ekitike has shown quality. Isak, for now, remains a very costly problem.
Former England captain Wayne Rooney said in his latest BBC podcast that Mohamed Salah’s place should be in jeopardy.
He said: “If I was Slot, I’d try and make a big decision just so it has an impact on the rest of the team. Salah is not helping them defensively.
“If you’re one of the players who they’ve signed and you’re on the bench and you’ve seen him not running – and again he’s a club legend for everything he’s done for the club – but if you’re on the bench, then what message does that send to you?”
Salah has been criticised for lack of defensive contributions, especially in losses to Chelsea, Brentford and Manchester City.
He was, however, one of the few bright lights for Liverpool against Forest, the only player posing a serious threat, although he faded.
Slot has dropped Salah to the bench this season, against Galatasaray and Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League, with a loss in Turkey and victory in Germany.
He has been below his world-class best, but remains one of Liverpool’s potential match-winners. Slot needs all of those he can muster right now.
The time for Slot and Liverpool to contemplate life without Salah is when the Africa Cup Of Nations starts in December and he is with Egypt. Not now.
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