Liverpool ’emergency meeting’ set but questions mount for Slot ahead of sack decision | OneFootball

There was a time when Leeds were in a position for their interest in Arne Slot to be called a “compliment” as he let them down remarkably gently before rebounding with Javi Gracia and Sam Allardyce.

The Dutchman said Feyenoord fans “do not have to be afraid” as he rejected a Premier League relegation battle for a Treble push which ultimately delivered an Eredivisie title.

It might seem a touch hyperbolic at the end of a transformative week which has taken them out of the bottom three, but Leeds might feel emboldened to spurn Slot if the opportunity arose now.

When the half-time whistle blew at the Etihad last week, Daniel Farke was 45 minutes from unemployment. Leeds were 18th, had won one of their last seven Premier League games and were as close to non-entities as one could reach in a top-flight game against Manchester City.

They lost that game but still turned a corner in their season. Farke’s changes inspired a rousing comeback, mindset alteration and momentum shift which has carried Leeds through a period seemingly designed to get him sacked.

Chelsea were swept away by the energy of Elland Road in midweek, before Liverpool made the same mistake of underestimating an awakened beast. Leeds might have expected a better return having scored eight goals in their last 225 minutes of Premier League football against the two most recent Premier League winners and the world champions, but their embodiment of Tim Sherwood checking his pulse over the last eight days has been remarkable.

Liverpool never should have let it get that far. Any memory of an error-strewn, edgy first half was obliterated by Hugo Ekitike scoring twice in two minutes and eight seconds upon the restart. An even halfway competent team would have seen that lead through after capitalising on a devastating individual error from Joe Rodon and a collective inability to reset after an unsuccessful Liverpool penalty appeal.

Ekitike punished that naivety and vulnerability, and from that point Liverpool took control. There were no shots in the next quarter of an hour and it was closer to becoming 3-0 than 2-1 when those chances finally came.

Then Ibrahima Konate boosted Marc Guehi’s January valuation further with an inexplicable decision from a player who really needs to be saved from himself and removed from a situation he is making absurdly worse each week.

Wilfried Gnonto had dribbled himself into a cul-de-sac in the Liverpool penalty area before Konate peeked out the window and decided to randomly blow up his own car to afford the Italian a way out.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted the penalty, Anton Stach scored two minutes and 44 seconds later against a Liverpool defence apparently bewildered by the concept of a player cutting inside from the left to shoot despite training against Cody Gakpo most days, and a frankly stupid turnaround was complete.

The mistake Leeds made, as against Manchester City last weekend, was finishing it so soon. At the Etihad they equalised out of nowhere in the 68th minute; against Liverpool it was the 75th, with ample time remaining to find a winner.

Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool’s player of the season and someone Slot cherishes enough to deem irreplaceable across a number of positions, repaid that faith with a glorious finish to a fine team move. Leeds had again rewritten the script but forgotten to change the epilogue.

But it was Liverpool who were found to have celebrated a potential turning point in their season too early. Ao Tanaka doubled up on his heroics for the week by firing in at the back post from an uncleared corner as Slot’s side continue to flounder at set pieces.

Even if they had held on, the sense would have remained that Slot had merely postponed rather than cancelled that ’emergency meeting’. Allowing a newly-promoted and struggling side – even one which appears to have found its feet – to equalise twice in such circumstances means that it can commence as planned.

And Slot should fear the outcome. He again dropped Mo Salah, who did not even come off the bench. Alexander Isak was thrown on with six minutes left, a quarter of an hour or so after Florian Wirtz was replaced. Ekitike took his goals impeccably but the record levels of summer investment demand so much more than a single unqualified success.

Then there is the overreliance on two players who have become actively detrimental to Liverpool in both phases. Konate can no longer be trusted and Gakpo being the manager’s comfort blanket he cannot discard is damning.

Why does Slot despise his saviour Federico Chiesa so? Why has the defence collapsed in on itself so catastrophically as to be out-conceded by only the bottom five? Why are even their few positives – like the performance of Conor Bradley – constantly offset by negatives such as him quite impressively picking up a suspension for a fifth yellow card in 600 minutes?

And how have Liverpool landed themselves a Premier League-winning coach who the side in 16th probably wouldn’t trade their manager for?