Liverpool journalist lambasts Slot for crazy Forest moment that shows he’s out of his depth | OneFootball

A journalist who specialises in covering Liverpool cannot believe Arne Slot keeps making the same mistake over and over again that suggests the Dutchman is out of his depth at Anfield.

Suggestions Slot is out of his depth at Liverpool would have been met with derision just a few months ago. Slot guided Liverpool to the Premier League title in his first season in charge, though in truth, did so with a title-worthy squad left over by Jurgen Klopp.

It would be doing Slot a disservice to suggest he only played a minor role in Liverpool’s success last term. The Dutchman earned praise for his masterful use of substitutions, the manner in which he navigated Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk and Salah’s contract sagas, and notably improving the likes of Ryan Gravenberch.

However, after spending well in excess of £400m on new recruits – some of which are among the best players in the world – Slot now looks unable to cope.

The Reds suffered their sixth defeat of the season in the Premier League on Saturday and realistically, their title defence is already over before Christmas.

Slot’s side lose to the same methods every week – failure to defend set pieces and an inability to break down a low block – yet the manager appears powerless to instil change.

What’s more, his magic touch with substitutions has deserted him, with Slot now reduced to taking centre-backs off and throwing extra attackers on in desperate throws of the dice.

Slot once again went down that route in the 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday, replacing Ibrahima Konate with Hugo Ekitike with the scoreline at 2-0.

Predictably, any semblance of a gameplan and attacking rhythm quickly deserted the Reds, with Forest ultimately going on to add a third.

Responding to Slot’s continued use of this tactic that clearly doesn’t work, Liverpool Echo journalist, Paul Gorst, didn’t hold back.

“Not at Anfield today but Ekitike on for Konate at 2-0 sums up the entire season,” wrote Gorst on X.

“Load up on attackers, send the team’s structure to the wall and watch as it gets worse.

“What is the actual pre-match plan for these players? They seem surprised when the other team also wants to win.”

Ryan Gravenberch slammed by Reds legend

Slot’s removal of Konate for Ekitike resulted in Ryan Gravenberch occasionally dropping deeper to play as a makeshift centre-back when Liverpool were out of possession.

The Dutch midfielder has been well below par this term, yet has largely escaped criticism… until now.

According to Liverpool legend, Steve Nicol, it’s long overdue Gravenberch came in for a verbal kicking for his part in Liverpool’s tepid title defence.

Nicol, who won four league titles with the Reds in the 1980s, told ESPN FC: “There’s one guy who I think has escaped criticism so far: Gravenberch.

“This is a guy who no question after Salah and maybe Van Dijk was Liverpool’s best player last year. He was in the right place all the time, he made great decisions, he started attacks.

“His main job is to be that block, that guy in front of the back four that orders the other two around, lets them go forward when they can and fills in behind. He’s done none of that this year.

“He is another one who, as fantastic as he was last year, has completely disappeared again.”

In other news, and as talk of Arne Slot being shown the door at Liverpool intensifies, the bookies have installed a spectacular replacement as the favourite to replace the Dutchman.

Elsewhere, Virgil van Dijk did not hold back when launching a scathing assessment of his side’s embarrassing loss to Forest, while Slot answered questions over what fans perceived as a major selection blunder.