Alan Shearer Exclusive: Liverpool's form is slightly worrying and Slot may change things | OneFootball

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Read Alan Shearer's latest exclusive for Betfair as he discusses Liverpool's current form, tells us why he's amazed that Manchester United appear to be getting worse, and much more including Alexander Isak and Newcastle...

Liverpool's form is not a disaster, but it is cause for concern

Liverpool's form is not a disaster, but it is cause for concern. Particularly with what's happened in the last two games. They got away with it a bit in terms of scoring late goals and winners this season and we all said it was a positive, which it was. If you're not playing well but still winning games, it must be a positive. But they haven't played well in the last two games and have lost them both. That would be a concern. Particularly the way they've lost the games.

Against Crystal Palace, they should've been 4-0/5-0 down at half-time and that's no exaggeration. But for the brilliance of Alisson, who got injured on Tuesday night incidentally.

Tuesday night, Slot made changes and he's still searching for a formation that allows the new players to come into Liverpool and do well. He left Salah out, which he can do because of the workload and the games that Liverpool have coming up.

He tried Frimpong on the right of a three up-front, played a midfielder at right-back when he had a right-back on the bench in Conor Bradley. So yeah, he's still searching for that right formation that'll make them tick, tough to beat and make them as good as they were last season.

The last two games they have been miles off it. They didn't deserve anything from the Galatasaray game. They didn't play well enough, and it wasn't just in forward positions that it didn't work, defensively, again, they were terrible. They're still trying to find a balance in terms of protecting Konate and Van Dijk. The number of times they got in between the centre-halves and fullbacks, Konate and Van Dijk were isolated and couldn't cope with Osimhen.

There's plenty to work on for Liverpool, but I wouldn't call it a disaster just yet. You can't because they're still top of the Premier League. Things have to improve, and Slot has to find the balance pretty quickly.

No surprise if Slot reverts to what worked last season

It's difficult with the new signings. Arne Slot has Ekitike and Isak, who isn't fully fit yet, but he will be after the international break. It wouldn't surprise me if Slot tried to go back, as near as possible, to what he had last season with three in midfield, two wide men, one centre-forward and obviously the back four.

That, I guess, would be Salah, Ekitike and probably Gakpo on the left. The three in midfield being Mac Allister, Gravenberch and Szoboszlai. Then going in with the two full-backs that they signed. I mean, he could go in there with Andy Robertson.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if he went back to as close to that as possible.

The problem Florian Wirtz has is that his best position is as a no.10, I think. But Liverpool don't play with one. That's the thing. I get the criticism of Wirtz but through no fault of his own, there will always be a microscope on him because of the price-tag. He has to try and live up to that. There's no doubt he's a very, very talented player but it's about trying to get him into a system and team that worked so well last year and isn't quite working so far this year because Liverpool haven't played with a no.10.

Liverpool are leaving themselves short in midfield to get Wirtz into the team. It's one to keep an eye on but it wouldn't surprise me at all if Slot reverts back to what worked for them last season.

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After the International break will be time to judge Isak

What I'd say about Alexander Isak is, he has hardly played any football since May. He didn't train properly during pre-season so there's no way you'll see the best of Isak until after the international break. We've got this weekend and then he'll go away with Sweden and use that time to get match fitness. Then I think it will be the time to judge Isak at Liverpool.

I don't expect you'll see many tears from Newcastle fans that he hasn't hit the ground running at Liverpool!

I find it remarkable that Man United are getting worse

Things are getting worse under Ruben Amorim, which is remarkable. They certainly haven't improved, that's for sure. They're 14th in the Premier League and that was unacceptable last season. There were excuses for last season which maybe you could put up, but this season there's no excuse for what they've spent. I do find it remarkable that they're getting worse and nothing's changing.

Amorim is refusing to budge from his system which, clearly, his players aren't comfortable playing. He doesn't help himself sometimes. We did a graphic on Match of the Day last weekend where he was constantly changing the back five, put Mason Mount on as a no.10 and then four minutes later changed him to a left wing-back. It looks very confusing sometimes, it really does.

It is what it is. I don't suspect you'll get many tears from other fans. They're probably enjoying it. Amorim is under a lot of pressure, and the noise will get a lot louder if they don't beat Sunderland this weekend.

Amorim still in a job because of the errors that have been made by people above him

I think if Man United lose to Sunderland he could possibly be sacked. I hate talking about managers and the potential of losing jobs, but Ruben Amorim isn't helping himself, is he?

I don't know what goes on behind closed doors, but I guess Zinedine Zidane is sitting, waiting for a huge job where he's got the potential to go and win things. I don't think that potential is at Man United for a few years yet, so I'd be really surprised if Zidane was to go to Man United.

At the end of the day, they're Man United. One of the biggest clubs in the world and you'll always get someone who thinks they can come in and turn things around. But it's just been mistake after mistake after mistake and there's a part of me that believes Amorim is still in the job because of the errors that have been made by people who've come in above him.

Every single corner, they've made a mistake. Whether it was bringing Dan Ashworth in, sacking him and putting him on gardening leave, putting ticket prices up, getting rid of staff, players they've signed. Everything seems to have been the wrong decision so I do believe the results have been nowhere near good enough and they can't wait much longer to turn them around.

Reynolds and Brady are chasing the dream

Ryan Reynolds and Tom Brady are chasing the dream of Premier League football, I guess. They're looking at huge football clubs which Wrexham and Birmingham are to try and chase the dream of getting to the promised land. Certainly, in Ryan Reynolds' view, they're closer to it than they thought they would be.

They're not far away now albeit I don't think they'll get promoted this season, but they all want a bit of the Premier League because wherever you are, it's remarkable. I was in Kansas City last weekend and the reaction to the Premier League is something you've never seen before. It's off the charts. So that's what they all want, they've seen it on TV, they're all very wealthy, want to invest and get a piece of the pie.

I think they will both be in the Premier League in the near future, I do. If they continue to invest like they have done, how they get around PSR is a different matter, but they look at clubs who have been drifting, but look at the history, how big they are and how big they can become in the area that they're in and both Birmingham and Wrexham are huge. There's a chance to grow them even bigger and there's also a chance they get what they want and reach the Premier League.

Chelsea are still not ready to challenge for the title

I think Chelsea are a very different football club to anything else. They do things very differently and as soon as you sign up to Chelsea, you know the rules. Basically, you can't lose three games on the spin. That's why this weekend is huge for them. You know the pressure you're under; you know the tag that comes with going to Chelsea as a manager.

As for them spending over £1billion, I don't see them as ready to challenge for the Premier League title which, when you consider what they've spent, is remarkable. I still think they need a goalkeeper, centre-half and a top-class centre-forward. I still think they're short in the three most important positions on the pitch. It's run very differently to anything else.

Newcastle are still getting over the summer transfer saga

Eddie Howe is not under pressure, not at all. It's totally understandable why Newcastle haven't hit the ground running in the Premier League this season. The mess they had to deal with in the summer was through no fault of their own. It put them in a very difficult situation and they're still trying to get over that.

Having said that, the Champions League win on Wednesday was hopefully the thing that gets them going. It's exactly what was needed, a good performance with plenty of goals. It's never easy at whatever level going away to any team and putting in a performance like that. Particularly as Union Saint-Gilloise won their first game. Elanga, Woltemade and Gordon were the catalyst and everything that was good about Newcastle.

I really hope that helps their league form and they've got a really good chance against a struggling Nottingham Forest coming to St James' Park. I hope they'll kick on now.

Nick Woltemade has three goals now in the short time he's been at the club. Scored on his Premier League debut and his first Champions League start so yeah, he's made a really good start and he's looking good. Don't forget Newcastle also have Wissa to come back after the international break as well. Newcastle are really strong. They've got a pretty good front six.