Arne Slot appears to have come through the other side of intense pressure over his position at Liverpool.
The Dutchman had looked destined for the sack only two short weeks ago after a string of desperately poor results.
Slot actually led Liverpool to their worst run for 72 years at one stage, and after Mohamed Salah took aim at him following the draw at Leeds a fortnight ago, his days at Anfield seemed numbered.
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Since then, Slot and his team have fought back admirably. Three consecutive wins have been secured in all competitions, including two tough away trips to Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspur.
However, many Liverpool supporters are still not happy with the football being played under Slot, and believe he should still be facing the sack. Speaking after Saturday’s win over Spurs, the Reds’ head coach hinted at why those fans are likely to be disappointed.
Liverpool hierarchy understand Arne Slot’s struggles
After Liverpool spent more than £400m in the summer transfer window, many supporters automatically assumed they’d be in for another dominant season under Slot.
But football does not work like that. New arrivals take time to settle and gel, and the teams that win tend to be ones who have been together for a long while.
Nevertheless, many football owners would not accept that as an excuse for being as poor as Liverpool have been. Luckily for Slot, he has the backing of football people such as Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards, who – according to the Dutchman – knew things could take time to click.
“I think it’s never been as bad as people said,” Slot said after pointing out that Liverpool have picked up some good results in the Champions League especially.
“But it’s also true that we are definitely not perfect yet. But we knew this when we made so many changes in the summer that it would take time. Maybe because we won the first five or six games, everybody thought this would just go so easily. But as a club, ownership, Richard [Hughes], Michael [Edwards], all the other people, knew that change could, could, could also go with different results – and that has shown to be true.”
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Although Hughes and Edwards were right in predicting things may burn slowly at Liverpool this season, there comes a point where you have to say enough is enough.
For Slot, he had appeared to go past that point in November. The back-to-back 3-0 and 4-1 home losses against Nottingham Forest and PSV Eindhoven had felt like the moment where things became untenable.
But, to their credit, the Liverpool owners have stuck to their mantra that things are going to take a little time.
The Reds are still not playing brilliantly despite their better results, but they have been good enough to suggest that they could click eventually.
Unless there is another sharp downturn between now and the end of the season, it would be a real shock if Slot were removed without seeing out a second full campaign. From there, better will be expected next season, and if things continue to stagnate it is likely that only then will the trigger be pulled.
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