Paul Gorst delivers his verdict as Liverpool’s troubled season takes a new blow as they lose 4-1 at home to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League
Having scaled the mountain to become champions of England for a 20th time just six months ago, Liverpool have found it to be made of glass. In exactly half a year, Arne Slot has gone from being on top of the world to seeing it cave in and major questions are now being asked.
The Champions League was supposed to be the sympathetic ear to the cruel mistress that has been the Premier League season so far. But another shambolic showing at Anfield – one that saw PSV come away with a 4-1 victory – might force some uncomfortable debates inside the corridors of power now. From the dressing room to, maybe, even the boardroom.
Liverpool have now lost nine of their last dozen games and if October was the month from hell for Slot and his staff, November has been just a diabolical. Those victories over Aston Villa and Real Madrid were a mirage for a team knee deep in the mire. The winter of discontent has taken a firm grip and those early summer scenes already feel like a lifetime ago for a side who have shipped 10 goals in their last three games, two of them at home.
This is not a group of players who don’t appear to be playing for the manager and nor is it a squad who aren’t putting in the effort to address the situation they find themselves in. But confidence is rock bottom, the belief has ebbed away and their reserves of resilience have long since evaporated.
An early setback is enough to drain Slot’s team of any conviction that they can win the game they are involved in and so it proved once more after an early penalty.
PSV didn’t have to work particularly hard for their goals. Just six attempts on target was enough for Giorgi Mamardashvili, standing in for the unwell Alisson Becker, to pick the ball out of his net four times and the You’ll Never Walk Alone that echoed on the Kop as stoppage time approached was sung in sombre acceptance rather than any sort of defiance to their predicament.
The Kop’s response to a fourth PSV goal, through substitute Couhaib Driouech, was to sing of their love of the club. It was a jarring contrast to the sort of anger they would have been justified expressing, given the circumstances.
On one hand, it was admirable to hear the fans refuse to turn on the players and the head coach but when even the match-goers start to give up hope, and the fire in the bellies begin to peter out, then there are real concerns to address.
Liverpool conceded the first goal for the 10th time in their last dozen games when captain Virgil van Dijk bizarrely opted to paw the ball away at a corner only to see a penalty promptly awarded by referee Alejandro Hernandez. Ivan Perisic dispatched and it was an uphill struggle from there.
It was Dominik Szoboszlai who levelled 10 minutes later when goalkeeper Matej Kovar could only parry Cody Gakpo’s strike into the Hungary captain’s path. It was a good response for the remainder of the half from the Reds but their Achilles’ Heel of conceding soft, early goals allowed PSV to find themselves in possession of parity at the break without barely breaking sweat.
Had the hosts started on the right foot, they might have had too much in the locker for a PSV side who, despite the eye-catching scoreline, were pretty ordinary for large swathes. Ordinary is enough to win here though right now.
Guus Til outmuscled Milos Kerkez to nip in steer home PSV’s second shortly before the hour mark. It was the sucker punch that floored Liverpool and from that moment, yet another defeat felt inevitable.
Slot sent on Alexander Isak for Hugo Ekitike, who hobbled off with a suspected muscle problem, while Federico Chiesa was called for in place of Ibrahima Konate as the structure of the team was again sacrificed in search of late goals at 3-1.
Once more, the changes only served to make matters worse as PSV pilfered a fourth late on, with Driouech adding his second. It’s the first time they have conceded three or more in three successive games since September 1992.
“Always look on the bright side of life,” crooned the PSV faithful in the away end as the game entered its final knockings. It’s a good idea but it’s difficult to establish what that might look like at Anfield right now even if Liverpool tried.
This is a season that has capitulated in front of Slot’s eyes since that defeat at Crystal Palace in late September. Where do they go from here?
