Liverpool’s Arne Slott: How much pressure is a manager really under?

In the case of slots, there is an earnest balance in the bank. The 47-year-old is the only manager alongside Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and Liverpool predecessor Jurgen Klopp to have won the title since 2017-18.

It is also worth noting that in 2020-21, the season after Liverpool won the league under Klopp, they finished eighth after 28 games but Klopp’s future was never really in doubt. They won 26 of the last 30 points available and ended up in third place.

However, the following season Klopp’s side failed to qualify for the Champions League, something Slott says “will not be acceptable” this season.

In response to a question about the impact of such a scenario on his position, Slott replied: “This is a difficult question for me to answer because I do not decide my future.”

“The only thing I know is that this has happened before, and recently, and it did not affect the future of that coach. But that does not guarantee anything, of course.”

“In general, [with] Managers, especially at this club – maybe elsewhere it’s mainly, but not only, about results – they also look at the progress the players are making, the progress the team is making, and circumstances are sometimes taken into account.

“This does not apply to all clubs, but I think I work at a club that looks at these things. As was shown in the past when the club did not qualify for the Champions League.”

Traditionally, Liverpool are not a club that sacks managers, and the understanding is that the hierarchy at Anfield are behind Slott, at least until the end of the season.

Last week, an internal roundtable conversation between Slott, sporting director Richard Hughes and CEO Billy Hogan was broadcast across Liverpool’s social channels.

Although it was filmed in mid-January, the video showed the strong relationship between everyone. Hughes, of course, was instrumental in hiring Slott, and getting rid of him meant admitting it didn’t work.

However, there is a clear awareness that performance and results must improve, and Slott is aware of both internal and external pressures.

Boos are not the norm at Anfield, but have been heard frequently this season.

Away from the cameras, Slott is seen as calm, collected and balanced, but admissions that he finds it “difficult to hear” claims that Liverpool’s football was “boring” speaks of a man who fights hard, insisting his team can do “something special”.

There is certainly an alleviation of Liverpool’s struggles. The death of Diogo Jota last summer was tragic, and former Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher said last week that it meant the football side of things had not mattered this season for Liverpool as players dealt with his loss.

Slott said that the meeting he held with the players after Jota’s funeral was one of the most difficult things he had ever done in his life.

No one at the club will use Jota’s departure as an excuse to decline but the impact of such a tragedy must be taken into account.

Liverpool also faced an injury crisis, including the long-term absences of Giovanni Leoni, Connor Bradley and Alexander Isak, while undergoing a squad transition that focused on technical footballers, rather than physical signings.

The feeling behind this strategy is that in the long term the game will move towards an emphasis on possession, rather than the emphasis on physicality that we have seen this season.

The decline of key players hasn’t helped either, so a combination of factors have combined to leave Liverpool where they are.

Regardless, given the quality of players at their disposal, it is widely accepted that the reigning champions are “not performing to Liverpool’s standards”, as Slott said.

However, his suggestion on Tuesday that Liverpool had been outplayed in just three halves this season was far-fetched.

When a team loses eight games and draws six of its 25 matches, such a claim does not hold up.