Arne Slot was speaking ‘utter rubbish’ and Liverpool’s Man City failure is ‘all on him’
Liverpool dropped more points in the Premier League after a farcical finish against Manchester City – and there is only one man to blame: Arne Slot
Arne Slot was the only man to blame(Image: Getty Images)
It appeared to get lost in all the carnage and confusion. That stunning free kick from Dominik Szoboszlai.
Erling Haaland completing Manchester City’s sensational comeback with the coolest penalty of the season. Gianluigi Donnarumma’s remarkable save to keep out Alexis Mac Allister’s deflected strike.
That farcical finish at the death, when football had to abide by rules which utterly stink. And just to add one more distraction to the equation, Liverpool boss Arne Slot made the astonishing claim Marc Guehi should have beens sent off for pulling back Mo Salah and denying the Egyptian a clear goal scoring opportunity.
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Perhaps Slot had not studied replays of that incident. Because if he had done, he would have realised he was talking utter garbage.
“If there is an incident we should talk about, it’s when Salah is one on one with the goalkeeper,” said a straight-faced Slot. It was doubtful Salah would have even reached the ball ahead of the covering Ruben Dias, let alone score.
But that’s the thing about being under pressure. It scrambles the mind. Aside from making himself look a complete fool, Slot also managed to divert attention from himself.
Whether he meant to, or not. He gave people something else to debate, other than whether or not he still remains the right man to manage Liverpool.
Liverpool have now won just one of their last seven league games. Despite breaking the bank last summer to sign Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, among others, Liverpool are sixth in the table, 17 points adrift of leaders Arsenal and at genuine risk of not being in the Champions League next season.
Szoboszlai had scored with 16 minutes remaining. Liverpool should not have gone on to lose, but failed to see the game out. And that is all on Slot.
When he had his foot on the throat of Pep Guardiola, he allowed the Spaniard to break free. Instead of instructing his players to go for the kill, he allowed them to sit back and invite trouble on themselves.
And look what happened? Liverpool had all the momentum, but Slot failed to take advantage when it mattered most. Slot’s men have now conceded four 90th-minute winners in league games this season.
Which is a damning reflection of his team’s tactics, confidence, focus and belief. Eddie Howe insists he would step down and resign if he didn’t think he was still the right man to lead Newcastle United.
Howe is taking the responsibility of owning the scenario unfolding in the north east. Newcastle are 12th in the table, and Howe is honest enough to admit he’s not doing his job properly.
But he’s not doing the likes of Slot any favours. Because if Slot was also honest with himself, he would have to admit he has not been up to the task of managing Liverpool this season.
Slot won the league title in his first season in charge, but has spent all his credit in the bank faster than Del Boy did when he came into a millions thanks to a rare pocket watch.
And only a fool would still think Slot is the right horse to back, when it comes to securing more success for the English giants.
