Liverpool’s 1-1 draw against Sunderland has not exactly done Arne Slot any favours.
After a fairly decent win at the weekend against West Ham, the Reds went back to their old ways against the Black Cats and put in a very underwhelming performance.
They were lucky to come away with a draw in all honesty, with this looking like it will be enough to save Slot his job for another game, but only just.
Who was your Man of the Match against Sunderland?
This type of performance at Anfield against a newly-promoted side simply is not good enough for a team like Liverpool, with this usually a game they would win with relative ease.
Slot’s comments after the game also show just how far the club has fallen this season, with there being one thing in particular that stood out.
Arne Slot is aware that Anfield is no longer the fortress it used to be
Anfield is supposed to be one of the most feared stadiums in Europe, with opponents usually fearing the worst every time they had to play there.
Even the likes of Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger admitted how hard it was to get a result there, with it really being a fortress over the years.
Liverpool even went 68 games unbeaten at home under Jurgen Klopp, a record that was built across four years, but now, it does not have the same effect.
Five teams have been to Anfield this season and gone home with something to show for it, with four of them claiming all three points, with Slot admitting teams now know they can get something from these games.
“But it’s clear that teams that play us now think they can get a result. Not only think, because that has been shown this season,” he said in his post-match press conference.
“And even in the games we’ve won, they also fuelled the confidence for other teams like, ‘Hmm, something is possible’ because the wins we had at the beginning of the season weren’t easy ones as well.”
Arne Slot needs to use Anfield to his advantage
Can you remember Liverpool’s last Premier League draw?
Hint, it was last season!
Under Klopp, the German knew exactly how to utilise Anfield to his advantage, with his style of football exciting and unpredictable.
This, in turn, would get the crowd up during the game, and the players were able to feed off this and use their energy to drive their performance.
This was seen against Sunderland after Liverpool scored their goal, with Anfield finding its voice while everything on the pitch felt faster and with more urgency behind it.
Liverpool need this for the full duration of the game, though, as before, it was too slow and flat, something Sunderland certainly took advantage of.
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