Arne Slot must ditch embarrassing idea or Liverpool are doomed

Arne Slot has got to ditch his gameplan. Liverpool aren't good enough - and it'll get worse.

Liverpool continue to struggle and Sunday saw their 18th defeat of this campaign. Only three times since 1962 - their last promotion season - have they suffered more across a season.

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And, of course, there are still three games to go.

It has been a season of awful football and disappointment, in all honesty. Liverpool have carried themselves to near-certain UEFA Champions League qualification regardless, primarily because they do have elite-level footballers. The fact that Chelsea have completely collapsed also helps.

But there's no real sense that Liverpool have improved or found any control this season. While things are no longer as bad as they were at one point - literally their worst run of defeats since Bill Shankly took over - the Reds remain incapable of controlling matches.

Manchester United took full advantage of that, hitting at Liverpool's weak spots and dominating the first half. It's been commonplace this season and, quite honestly, it's embarrassing for the team that they're yet to fix it.

Liverpool essentially forego any midfield protection, instead operating with on-the-ball options who look to boost control in possession. Few win tackles, few plug gaps - it's all about in-possession.

The out-of-possession idea is to press with a line of four, an attempt to stifle teams and force them into going long rather than finding the players Liverpool leave open between the lines. That's the idea, anyway.

And it's a common one. Both Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich operated that way against one another last week in a match that finished 5-4. The teams decided that while they'd leave gaps, they'll back their world-class attacks to take advantage of the space better than their opponents could.

Largely, they were correct. The result was one that both teams can be happy with.

Liverpool, however, cannot operate that way. Their attack isn't good enough and is nigh-on broken - they managed less than 1 xG against United. They were hardly better at home to Crystal Palace, managing a mere 1.44.

That's been the story this season. Liverpool bank on a struggling forward line to outscore teams, giving up easier opportunities to opponents in the process.

But because that forward line struggles to score goals consistently, teams are simply gifted space of their own at little cost. They can always afford to attack Liverpool because they know the Reds won't necessarily hurt them.

Again, this has been the story all season. Liverpool have done next to nothing to adapt to their poor attack, sticking with a flat midfield two made up of attacking midfielders. It's why the performances in May 2026 are very similar to those in October 2025.

If Liverpool can't dominate teams with their attack (and they cannot), then the solution is to become more defensively solid and control games that way. Exactly why this change hasn't happened by May is completely unclear but until it does, this team will remain one that fails.