Stick or sack? Slot's Liverpool future dominates UCL talking points

Anfield, 16 April — When Liverpool’s players trudged off the Parc des Princes pitch last Wednesday, the scoreboard read 2-0 to Paris Saint-Germain yet the numbers felt almost incidental. A bigger question was already stalking the Reds’ flight home: is Arne Slot still the right man to lead this team, or will the club’s hierarchy be forced into a seismic decision if the tie—and the season—slips away next week?

The Dutchman’s gamble in the French capital was as bold as it was desperate. Abandoning the 4-3-3 that has been Liverpool’s default for a generation, Slot deployed a back-five system he had never previously used in competitive action, crowding central areas to blunt PSG’s vaunted wide combinations. The upshot was that Vitinha and Co. were granted the run of midfield, while Liverpool mustered only three shots, none on target, and a meagre 0.18 expected goals. “It was total nonsense,” ESPN FC’s Julien Laurens said bluntly on the post-match panel. “He encouraged his team just to defend, and the players looked lost.”

Inside the dressing-room the mood appeared equally uneasy. Television cameras caught Dominik Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz exchanging blank stares as they were substituted midway through the second half; Mohamed Salah, left among the unused replacements, sat expressionless after a quadruple change that did not include him. “Look at the body language,” Laurens added. “It feels like Slot has lost the team.”

Yet the manager’s defenders argue the alternatives were equally grim. “Doing nothing and getting hammered was the other option,” Gab Marcotti countered, pointing to the 3-1 FA Cup surrender at Manchester City only days earlier. “At 2-0 they are still in the tie; that, in itself, is something.”

Whether that fragile lifeline is enough to keep Slot in post may hinge on what unfolds under the Anfield lights in the return leg. PSG’s profligacy in front of goal—Luis Enrique’s side could easily have won 5-0—has left the tie tantalisingly alive, but Liverpool’s wider form offers little encouragement. A side once famed for late surges now concedes in clumps and attacks in spurts; confidence, according to analysts, is ebbing by the week.

Club sources insist no ultimatum has been issued and that a final decision on the manager will not be reactionary, yet the backdrop is impossible to ignore. Fail to overturn the deficit and Liverpool will end 2024-25 without a trophy for the third straight campaign, a scenario that would test the patience of even the most patient Fenway Sports Group executives. “The question is no longer tactical,” Mark Ogden noted. “It’s existential: can Slot still command the respect of the dressing-room and, more importantly, win football matches?”

For now the Dutchman remains in situ, preparing for a second leg that feels less like a Champions League knockout and more like a referendum on his reign. If Liverpool summon a famous European comeback, the narrative will pivot to resilience and renewal. If they falter, the inquest will begin immediately—and the loudest topic on everyone’s lips will be whether Liverpool stick with Slot or swing the axe.

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