Arne Slot responds to Liverpool sack speculation after ‘shock’ of worst run for 70 years | OneFootball

Arne Slot has responded to speculation that he will soon be facing the sack as Liverpool boss and admits he is in shock at the dismal run the club are on – their worst for more than 70 years.

If things looked bleak after a harrowing 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend, they only got worse when PSV came to town on Wednesday evening in the Champions League and dished out a 4-1 Anfield humiliation.

Liverpool were overrun by their Dutch opponents as they slipped to another defeat with barely a whimper – a ninth loss in their past 12 matches to ensure the club’s worst 12-game stretch since the 1953-54 season when, for context, Winston Churchill was the UK’s prime minister.

Having gone down 3-0 to both Man City and Forest directly prior to this 4-1 defeat, Slot has now also overseen three straight losses by a margin of at least three goals by the Reds for the first time in 72 years.

Despite winning the Premier League title just six months ago, Liverpool were booed off by their fans at the end of the PSV clash and Slot’s job is coming under increasing scrutiny.

He admits speculation surrounding his status is fair but claims he doesn’t feel under pressure, although he is stunned by how things have deteriorated.

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Things are going badly wrong for Arne Slot at Liverpool (AP)

“It is a shock for everyone, for the players, for me, this is very, very unexpected,” Slot said. “I am feeling safe, I am okay though.

“It would be nice to turn it around and get a victory but if you are working as a coach and not doing well then it is normal that questions are asked.

“If any manager around the world loses football games, let alone as many as we have lost, it’s quite normal people have an opinion about that. If it’s fair or unfair, it’s for other people to judge. Is that normal? I think it is. If you lose so many times, people start talking about that.

“I have got a lot of support from above. I am okay with my position. They [the board] don’t call every single minute of the day to say they trust me but in the normal conversations we have, I feel the trust.”

Liverpool looked lifeless at Anfield – and have already lost their more times this season than they did in the entirety of the previous campaign – while the overall display, rather than the result, is what worried the boss most.

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Liverpool were overrun by PSV (Getty Images)

“The emotions are very negative and disappointing,” Slot added. “I was also hoping and expecting a better performance, because the performance was far from what we are used to, even if we’re losing, our performances have been better.

“Even when we don’t play well, (we are) able to score two goals and create more chances. But you cannot even compete... because we simply concede too many goals.

“I think it is always about the team and I think we can all do better; individuals you are talking about but it goes down to everyone including myself. I don’t think this is the time to emphasise individual errors.”

Although Slot was keen not to emphasise individual errors, those mistakes did cost Liverpool against PSV with Virgil van Dijk needlessly handling the ball to give away a penalty for the opening goal, Mohamed Salah and Milos Kerkez both lost their men for the second and Ibrahima Konate missed the ball to allow the Dutch side in for a third.

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Curtis Jones acknowledged that things needs to change at Liverpool (REUTERS)

And midfielder Curtis Jones summed up the despair currently hanging over Anfield.

“I’m a fan, and I’ve seen this club all my life,” said Jones. “In a long, long time, I haven’t experienced a Liverpool team going through a period like this with results like these. Right now, we’re in the s*** and it needs to change.

“At the end of the day, we still have that badge on our chest and until that badge is gone, we’re always going to fight. We’re going to try and get this team back to where it needs to be, show everyone again what this club is about and why people call it the best team in the world.

“This used to be a place where you hated to come, with the fans, with us, how we played. How we pressed, we were absolute dogs and then we have the ball and play. Now, we hardly even play. There’s times when we do play but off-the-ball stuff, that’s the stuff that has to change.”