Slot is a beaten man as Liverpool sack looms with ‘step forward’ claimed, Leeds loss already conceded | OneFootball

Arne Slot has come out of his Friday press conference looking like a beaten man as he has already made excuses for a Liverpool loss against Leeds United.

The Dutchman is in a real fight to save his job at Liverpool and his side’s performance in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw against Sunderland did him no favours.

The Reds were also unconvincing in last weekend’s 2-0 win versus a forgiving West Ham side before they were eight minutes plus stoppage time away from their tenth loss in 14 matches against Sunderland.

The stalemate at Anfield leaves Liverpool ninth in the Premier League table, while they have also slipped in the Champions League standings and have exited the Carabao Cup.

Slot is certainly not the only figure at Liverpool to blame for their sudden slump into a crisis, because FSG’s transfer model and the decline of key players also need to be scrutinised. But the head coach has looked devoid of all ideas, made too many tweaks to last season’s title-winning side in a short time, and made some dire selection decisions.

Under Slot, Liverpool have become ineffective across the pitch and lack the intensity to make up for the drop-off in quality in key areas.

A real test of a manager comes when he is under scrutiny, and Slot is currently failing miserably as he had a nightmare in his press conference on Friday.

Firstly, he desperately clutched at straws to claim a “step forward” had been made by his side against West Ham and Sunderland.

“In the last two games we were one deflection away from keeping two clean sheets. I said against West Ham that the good thing for us was they didn’t score their one and only chance, and the same thing happened again in this game,” Slot told reporters on Friday morning.

“They did not score the only chance they had, the chance they did score for me was not a chance after 93 minutes when they went one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

“That’s a step forward if you compare that to seven goals conceded in [the previous] two games.

“We did not concede a set piece in both games, which was also important, as a result of that maybe we got two results.”

He added:  “There was also positives to take in the players brought in during the summer in that I see they are getting more and more consistent in their performances.”

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Perhaps more damningly, Slot also conceded that he is fearful about Liverpool facing a “very aggressive” Leeds United side at Elland Road this weekend.

If Liverpool and Slot are worried about facing Leeds, one of the worst teams in the Premier League, then they have big problems and the boss has his excuses ready ahead of another disappointing outcome at the weekend.

“Yesterday I looked at Leeds v Chelsea and I thought I saw a Liverpool game – Chelsea conceding a set-piece and for the third goal making a big, big error,” Slot added.

“It was very difficult for them [Chelsea] because Leeds either went very aggressive with a one v one or went to a low block and it was really hard to create chances, so it’s not only difficult for us, that playing style, it’s difficult for many teams.

“What we expect is what we have seen in the second half against City, when they were 2-0 down coming back to 2-2. Eventually Foden made the difference with a moment of magic for City and against Chelsea they were really strong, played really aggressive.

“We know what to expect, but what we expect is what we have faced in nearly all our games, with the exception of two.”