In the 11th round of the Premier League, Liverpool lost 0-3 to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. Slott's team has lost 5 Premier League games this season, and this happened in the last 6 Premier League games. The Daily Telegraph talks about the performance of the defending champions.

This summer, Liverpool, which had just won the Premier League championship, spent 440 million pounds on signings, but coach Slott is now facing a cruel reality. His reputation as Liverpool coach has declined rapidly, so much so that just six months after he was praised for saving the team from the Dutch Bible Belt and leading the team to win the 20th Premier League championship, he had to face the ridicule of "will be fired tomorrow morning." Who was the last person to be so mocked in this game? It was Guardiola who was at Anfield 11 months ago. This contrast must be very sweet for the Spaniard.

When Guardiola regained his strength and saluted the audience in Manchester City's 1,000th game, Slott was pacing preoccupied in the rain. Yes, he was furious about the controversial disallowed goal, but what seemed to frustrate him more was the extent of Liverpool's collapse. Going from five consecutive wins to just three points in six games is not a small fluctuation, but reflects the problems that gradually emerged under his coaching. What’s even more galling is that the huge payout should have prevented this from happening. Wirtz joined for £116 million but has yet to make any contribution in the Premier League. The club broke the transfer fee record to sign Isak, but he was not even called up as a substitute.

At the time, this massive outlay was considered one of the shrewdest trades in history, and included not only Wirtz and Isaac, but also Ekitic, Kyle Katz and Frimpong. However, allowing these talented players to quickly integrate into the team requires a flexible and creative coach, and Slott clearly did not do a good job in this regard. Wirtz had almost no offensive threat in 83 minutes of playing time and seemed very frustrated. He was eventually replaced by Chiesa. The German's performance was purposeless, especially when the Manchester City backline retreated and Ekitic rushed forward, he actually passed an extremely bad ball, making Gvadiol almost unable to believe his luck.

In 2021, Roy Keane called Klopp's team "poor defending champions", accusing them of becoming complacent after their great success the previous season. This deeply stung Klopp, and this attempt to pursue consecutive championships seemed equally hopeless. Liverpool conceded 17 goals in the first 11 games. The last time Liverpool had such an embarrassing record was Liverpool. Five years ago, they were also slammed by Keane for their stupid defense.

Liverpool should look like a team that views failure as just a bump in the road rather than an intolerable insult. Here, their offense was as casual as a shotgun and their defense was weak. Konate's performance made people feel that he had fallen into a state of disinterest in joining Real Madrid. His main task was to mark Haaland, but he was easily headered by the Norwegian, as if Haaland had turned into Michael Jordan.

The situation is similar in other positions. Szoboszlai's defensive ability disappeared completely, and Bradley was even more miserable in the one-on-one contest with Doku who performed well. The impression given was that Liverpool had run out of energy after beating Real Madrid, which was unusual against the backdrop of their domestic collapse. But these games against Manchester City should have been the biggest league showdowns in English football, and Klopp's encounters with Guardiola are still fresh in the memory for their brilliance and passion. On this day, however, only the home team fulfilled their promise.

Van Dijk's shortcomings reflect Liverpool's decline. While he set the tone for the team, furious that Robertson's offside interference resulted in his header being disallowed, he was also responsible for City's second goal as his slightly perfunctory block deflected Mamadashvili away.

Perhaps Rooney's criticism of the Liverpool captain's body language was not an exaggeration. Van Dijk should have reflected on his mistake rather than clapping sarcastically after referee Kavanagh awarded City an early penalty. His performances only heightened Liverpool's unease, with each setback creating new doubts in the minds of the players. What was once a certainty was dissipating, with Salah no longer able to deliver the final moments and cracks clearly appearing in the once impenetrable centre-back partnership of Virgil van Dijk and Konate. The man ultimately responsible for it all is Slaughter, a coach who is quickly discovering how unpredictable life in this league can be.