Liverpool’s Premier League title defence is unraveling fast, and Arne Slot can no longer hide behind tactical excuses or the “new approach” of rival teams. After yet another humbling defeat this time at the hands of Brentford, the Dutchman faces his first true crisis as head coach.
The scoreline reads 3-2, but don’t let it deceive you. Brentford were dominant from start to finish. Every duel, every loose ball, every moment of intensity went the home side’s way. Liverpool, by contrast, looked drained, disjointed, and disturbingly ordinary. If they had somehow stolen a point from this, it would have been daylight robbery.
Slot tried to frame the team’s decline around the tactical adjustments of opponents-long balls, low blocks, compact defending. But that narrative crumbled under the floodlights in West London. The real issue lies within. His side looked short of spirit, cohesion, and belief. The midfield offered no control, the defence no resilience, and the attack no spark.
What should alarm Slot most is how quickly his champions have lost their edge. The pressing has lost its bite, the movement lacks purpose, and individual quality is being smothered by collective confusion. Leadership on the pitch is missing. Confidence has evaporated.
The numbers are damning. Liverpool have now lost four straight Premier League matches-the same tally they lost during their entire title-winning campaign. They join an unwanted list of reigning champions to suffer such a streak: Leicester City in 2016-17, Liverpool themselves in 2020-21, and Manchester City just last season.
This is also their worst league run since February 2021, another period defined by defensive chaos and a fragile mentality. Slot’s job now is not to explain away these failures, but to arrest them.
It’s easy to blame the opposition’s approach. It’s harder to admit that the champions have lost their identity.
Liverpool’s travelling fans, shivering through the cold Brentford night, deserved better than the lethargy and resignation they witnessed. The message is clear: if Slot wants to salvage this season, the answers won’t be found in his opponents’ tactics they’ll have to come from within his own dressing room.
Bottom line: Liverpool look like champions in name only. Slot has a fight on his hands to stop this from becoming a full-blown collapse.