The head coach is not responsible for many of the problems at Anfield but he is the most obvious target for those seeking reasons for the team’s decline

It was the coffee bar at the training ground, installed by the Fenway Sports Group’s chief executive, Michael Edwards, after he got the idea from visiting Roma. It was Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits, added to the post-match playlist by Alisson and which could be heard booming out of the Liverpool dressing room after victories. It was the video analysis. It was the data. It was the pre-season fitness tests. It was the close collaboration between the football and sports science departments. It was everything that changed from the Jürgen Klopp era. It was everything that stayed the same from the Jürgen Klopp era.

Victory brings a dazzling clarity. Particularly a victory as resounding as Liverpool’s unexpected 10-point romp to the Premier League title last season. It turns the cogs, powers the houses, confers a sunlit aura of genius on everyone involved. So with a certain uncharitable hindsight, it is instructive to go back to late April 2025 and read about how everyone thought Liverpool had done it. And why everyone – wrongly – thought they were going to do it again.

• ‘Never nice’ to hear boos after reaction to Spurs draw

• Liverpool face Galatasaray looking to overturn deficit

Arne Slot has said that he must have “done a lot of things wrong” for Liverpool fans to boo their team, but he does not feel the Anfield crowd has turned against him before a crucial Champions League tie against Galatasaray.

Slot believes the glum mood around the Premier League champions can be transformed by overturning a 1-0 deficit in the last 16 and reaching the quarter-finals at the Turkish club’s expense.

• André scores 94th-minute winner at Molineux

• ‘This has happened to us so many times this season’

Arne Slot described Liverpool’s defeat at Wolves as an episode that “sums up our season” and warned his squad they must address their shortcomings. André’s 94th-minute strike, deflected in via Joe Gomez, represented the fifth winning goal Liverpool have conceded in stoppage time this season and Slot bemoaned a familiar theme as his team struggled to create chances from open play.

Liverpool looked to have rescued a point through Mohamed Salah, the Egyptian cancelling out Rodrigo Gomes’s opener in the 83rd minute, but in added time André seized on a clearance by Alisson to compound Liverpool’s frustrations. Liverpool return to Molineux on Friday in the FA Cup fifth round.

• He points to narrowing gap and reliance on set plays

• Liverpool head coach will not change his team’s style

Arne Slot has admitted he does not enjoy watching most Premier League matches but says he will not change Liverpool’s philosophy. The head coach feels the narrower quality gap between top and bottom and a growing reliance on set plays have reduced the entertainment.

“Most of the games I see in the Premier League are not for me a joy to watch,” Slot said, “but it’s always interesting because it’s so competitive and that is what makes this league great – because there’s so much competitiveness. Everyone can win against everyone, but just as someone who loves to watch football, without being interested in who’s winning or losing it, just to be enjoyed, I think there’s a big difference now between three or four years ago in the Premier League.

• Rooney claimed coach lacked ‘aura’ to manage club

• ‘Jürgen Klopp and me both won the league’

Arne Slot has responded to Wayne Rooney’s claim that the Liverpool head coach does not have the “aura” to manage the club by pointing to his Premier League title success last season.

Rooney questioned Slot’s suitability for the job, telling The Overlap: “I have met him a few times. He was a nice fella but I just don’t think, for Liverpool, he’s got that aura about him. Maybe this is because you have just come off the back of Jürgen Klopp and it’s going to be difficult for anyone to have that, but I just don’t think there’s that aura about him.”

• Defender’s current contract expires at end of the season

• ‘We wouldn’t be in talks if we didn’t want him to stay’

Arne Slot has described Ibrahima Konaté as “vital” to Liverpool and the club have not given up hope of convincing the defender to sign a new contract.

Konaté has endured a tough time on and off the pitch this season but has impressed since returning from compassionate leave against Newcastle following the death of his father. Liverpool’s central-defensive rebuild is under way with the signings of Giovanni Leoni and Jérémy Jacquet, for an initial £26m and £55m respectively, but Slot insists Konaté remains an essential part of his plans.

• Manager says this season has been toughest of career

• Liverpool lack right-back options for Sunderland game

Arne Slot has said it would be unacceptable for Liverpool not to qualify for the Champions League and that this season has been the toughest of his managerial career “by a mile”.

The Premier League champions lie sixth, five points off fourth place, although fifth is likely to yield a Champions League spot. Liverpool, who spent almost £450m on players last summer, are heavily reliant on Champions League income for their business model but have won once in seven league games before Wednesday’s visit to Sunderland.

Pep Guardiola has led the way with his tactics for a decade but he has changed course and Arsenal have taken advantage

Great rivalries are always more about feel than about numbers. There have been only four Premier League seasons in which Manchester City and Liverpool have finished in the top two positions in the table (and one of those occasions was 2013-14 when the managers were Manuel Pellegrini and Brendan Rodgers, which is not a duel anybody is writing books or making documentaries about).

Yet for most of the decade that Pep Guardiola has been at City, it has felt that English football was defined by his struggle with Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool, and by a form of the game that developed as each learned from the other.

• Club short on defenders before three games in seven days

• Head coach ‘very happy’ with squad despite lack of cover

Arne Slot has said Liverpool have “a hell of a challenge” to prevent injuries affecting their ambitions for the rest of the season after failing to sign Lutsharel Geertruida on deadline day.

Although Liverpool strengthened for next season with the £60m signing of Jérémy Jacquet, who will arrive from Rennes in the summer, their current problems in defence were not covered. The Premier League champions did move for the Netherlands international Geertruida, who is on loan at Sunderland from Leipzig and wanted the transfer, but the deal was called off because Sunderland were unable to secure a replacement.

• Centre-back scores emotional goal against Newcastle

• Slot: ‘Everyone was cheering for Ibou in dressing room’

Arne Slot revealed Ibrahima Konaté was not due to face Newcastle after the recent death of his father. The centre-back was rewarded for responding to Liverpool’s defensive crisis with his first Premier League goal at Anfield.

Konaté returned from compassionate leave after three matches out to cap Liverpool’s convincing 4-1 comeback win against Eddie Howe’s team. The France international was in tears after scoring in front of the Kop and admitted he did not “have words to describe what I feel right now” after the poignant goal.

• Head coach highlights away game in Champions League

• Slot questions fixture list after difficult away trip

Arne Slot conceded his side ran out of steam in defeat at Bournemouth, after Amine Adli’s 95th-minute winner condemned Liverpool to a first loss since November. Liverpool pulled level from 2-0 down late on courtesy of Dominik Szoboszlai’s sensational free-kick, but Bournemouth responded impressively and Adli struck a winner from a long throw with almost the last kick.

The Liverpool head coach felt the referee, Michael Salisbury, should have played more second-half stoppage time taking in substitutions and video assistant referee checks but admitted he feared a Bournemouth winner. “I think it is safe to say they could have scored 3-2 a little bit earlier,” Slot said, alluding to chances for the Bournemouth pair Evanilson and Ryan Christie. “A few of our players ran out of energy and I cannot even criticise them for that because two days ago [three] we had to play an away game. We’re the only team that played in the Champions League that has two games in between.

• ‘Salah was fit to play 90 after one day’s training’

• Liverpool manager highlights Joe Gomez’s contribution

Arne Slot saluted Mohamed Salah’s professionalism and singled out Joe Gomez for praise after Liverpool climbed to fourth in the Champions League table with a commanding win in Marseille.

Liverpool, who host Qarabag at Anfield next week in their final group game, delivered a fine performance and result against Roberto De ­Zerbi’s team to record a ninth win in 11 ­European away fixtures.

• Liverpool manager says team struggling to create

• ‘My teams always try to play attacking football’

Arne Slot has said it hurts his principles as an attacking coach to hear his Liverpool team described as boring but he could not entirely disagree on current form.

Liverpool have stabilised after a damaging sequence of nine defeats in 12 matches, the club’s worst return in 71 years, with a nine-game unbeaten run but are struggling to produce convincing performances. Successive draws against Fulham and Leeds have prompted further criticism of Slot’s style and resulted in the champions falling 14 points behind the leaders, Arsenal, who they face at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday.

• ‘Every single game we play it’s hard work,’ says Slot

• Liverpool fourth before trip to Fulham on Sunday

Arne Slot has described Liverpool’s first half of the season as a “constant battle” and admitted the title race appeared to be a straight fight between Arsenal and Manchester City.

The Premier League champions are 12 points adrift of Mikel Arteta’s leaders after a goalless draw with Leeds on New Year’s Day. Liverpool are unbeaten in eight matches and back in the Champions League places after recovering from the club’s worst run in 71 years, yet remain unconvincing. Slot conceded his team are not “flying” or in contention to retain their title at present.

• Liverpool head coach’s new full-backs have struggled

• Slot expects improvement as squad and signings settle

Arne Slot has said Liverpool remain “a work in progress” in both full-back positions but backed Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez to make their mark as his team stabilise.

Slot admits Liverpool are still adjusting to the end of the Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson era with injuries and disruption limiting the impact of their designated successors, including Conor Bradley. Frimpong has improved since returning from his second hamstring injury of the season, however, and provided assists for Hugo Ekitiké and Ryan Gravenberch in the recent victories over Tottenham and Wolves. Slot believes the summer signings Frimpong and Kerkez, from Bayer Leverkusen and Bournemouth respectively, will prove valuable assets for Liverpool, with their pace essential for the modern game.

• Jota’s two young sons were mascots for 2-1 home win

• Slot: ‘The football world again showed how to behave’

Arne Slot praised Liverpool and Wolves fans for “showing the football world how to behave” as Diogo Jota’s two English clubs came together to pay tribute to the late striker at Anfield.

Jota’s two young sons, Dinis and Duarte, were mascots for the first game between the clubs since the Portugal international died in July. Liverpool supporters applauded when Wolves’ fans sang their song for Jota in the 18th minute and vice versa when Anfield acclaimed the late striker in the 20th minute, based on his squad numbers at the two clubs. The entire Wolves squad had visited the memorial to Jota outside Anfield to pay their respects the night before Liverpool’s 2-1 win.

• Manager says the ban Xavi Simons faces is ‘too harsh’

• Slot says his ‘gut feeling’ on Isak injury is not positive

A frustrated Thomas Frank took aim at two decisions, both involving the use of the video assistant referee system, that helped swing proceedings in Liverpool’s favour during his Tottenham side’s stormy 2-1 defeat on Saturday night.

Spurs finished with nine men after Cristian Romero was dismissed while they sought an equaliser in added time. But it was the red card handed to Xavi Simons in the first half, upgraded from a yellow after the VAR had slowed down his late challenge on Virgil van Dijk, that infuriated Frank the most. He cut an animated figure on the touchline as Simons departed, and said later that John Brooks’s original decision should have stood.

• ‘We couldn’t have asked for more,’ says manager

• Slot skirts around the Mohamed Salah issue

Arne Slot said Liverpool’s players gave everything he could have asked after they put Mohamed Salah’s absence aside to inflict a first European home defeat on Inter in more than three years.

The Liverpool head coach conceded that Dominik Szoboszlai’s decisive 88th-minute penalty – awarded for a shirt pull by Alessandro Bastoni on Florian Wirtz – would probably not have been given in the Premier League. But following the difficulties caused by Salah’s incendiary interview at Leeds on Saturday, Slot was thrilled with the response of his team at San Siro.

• Head coach also insisted he is not ‘weak’ amid row

• Egyptian left out of squad for game at Inter

Arne Slot has cast further doubt on Mohamed Salah’s future at ­Liverpool by admitting that he has “no clue” whether the forward has played his last game for the club. The head coach also insisted his politeness should not be mistaken for weakness after leaving Salah out of the Champions League game against Inter on Tuesday.

Slot gave his first public ­reaction on Monday to Salah’s incendiary interview at Leeds when ­previewing ­Liverpool’s match at San Siro. He denied Salah’s claims that their relationship had broken down and said only the Egypt international knows who supposedly threw him under a bus and wants him out of the club.

Egyptian’s calculated outburst is a challenge to management and their support for embattled Arne Slot

Mohamed Salah’s relationship with Liverpool is broken. That is abundantly clear after the incendiary interview at Elland Road on Saturday night that also poses a test of the club’s relationship with Arne Slot. The next revelation will be the extent of internal support for the coach who delivered Liverpool’s record-equalling 20th league title eight months ago.

Salah may have been emotional having been on the bench for the third successive game, but stunning waiting reporters not only by stopping to speak but by dropping a series of grenades during a post-match interview lasting more than seven minutes was not a case of heart ruling head. It never is when one of the greatest players to pull on the red shirt deigns to address the media. Whether it is criticism of contract negotiations, applying a little more pressure to get an agreeable deal done or, in this instance, piling more problems on Slot, Salah’s words are calculated to achieve what he wants.