Arne Slot Becomes Everything He Hates in Stunning U-Turn Against PSG

Liverpool’s insipid Champions League defeat to PSG inspired scathing reviews from a pair of European Cup-winning club legends.

Arne Slot became the villain on Wednesday evening. | Stuart Franklin-UEFA/UEFA/Getty Images

Christopher Nolan is “plagued” by the most famous line from his lauded Batman sequel The Dark Knight. “You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain.” It was one of the few the director didn’t write himself. That credit belongs to his brother. “It kills me,” he reflected years later.

Deep down, it will undoubtedly kill Arne Slot to see his Liverpool tenure embodied so accurately by that iconic quote.

The Dutchman’s disastrous second season has been defined by his side’s inability to counteract the solutions devised by opponents who were undone by Liverpool in Slot’s debut campaign. The Premier League winning manager has come out as an arch aesthete, bemoaning the number of low blocks, long balls and set pieces bombarding his team, which is just trying to play the beautiful game.

After a rare win against Barnsley in the FA Cup earlier this year, Slot couldn’t hide his disdain. The third-tier side had the gall to change their tactics to try and get the better of Liverpool. Can you imagine?

“We’ve played 30 games this season and I’d say 28 of my prematch meetings, I could just throw in the bin,” he fumed.

Faced with the defending European champions Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday evening, it was Slot’s turn to play the role of a lower league side, shifting Liverpool into a back-five for only the second time in his entire tenure at the club. It was the ultimate acceptance of inferiority which played out for all to see in a lopsided 2–0 loss.

Slot’s explanation of his approach was even more damning than the tactics.

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Slot: Liverpool Are in Survival Mode

Arne Slot had plenty to contemplate. | Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images

To say that Liverpool didn’t lay a glove on PSG would be an overstatement. They didn’t even get to the point of lacing up. The Reds mustered three off-target shots across the entire contest (and none in the first half). The few fears about the strong French champions lay in the shaky performances of goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, yet the Russian musketeer didn’t dirty his gloves once.

“We were in survival mode for large parts of the game. But maybe also in the period of the season where we were in survival mode,” Slot bluntly admitted.

After getting torn to shreds by Manchester City in the FA Cup on Saturday, that caution was perhaps justified. “PSG was the better team,” he continued. “But we didn’t give up and that’s why we have a chance now still in this tie.” At least Liverpool kept trying for the full game—which represents another improvement.

Slot knew how the contest would unfold ahead of time, which is why he left Mohamed Salah firmly rooted on the bench. “In the last part of the game it was more about surviving us than having a chance,” the Dutch boss explained.

“I think this was a 20–25 minutes where we only defending and Mo has so many qualities, but to be 20–25 minutes defending in his own box, I think it is better for him to save his energy for games coming up.

“Because they kept us alive by not scoring a few open chances. And now we can bring the tie back to Anfield. Not unfortunately, but in between there’s still a very important game to be played for us against Fulham. Just in terms of the system, you’ve not used it before.”

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Luis Enrique Offers Patronizing Defense of Slot

Different level. pic.twitter.com/VWf4ujC27d

— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) April 8, 2026

PSG coach Luis Enrique admitted to Canal+ postgame that he had not expected to see Liverpool in a different setup. “It’s a surprise because it’s the first time Arne Slot has played with three at the back this year,” he shrugged. “It showed that they’re changing and trying something new, which is normal.” However, as he admitted: “We’re used to opponents adapting to us, so no worries.”

Well aware of the rampant threat posed by his own side, the Spanish coach took no issue with his opposite number. “Arne Slot is a great coach,” Enrique insisted to TNT Sports, a point which some Liverpool fans have surely grown to question. “It’s the first time that they played with five at the back but we are used to other teams all the time changing their formation to play against us. It’s normal.

“They played a great match. It was difficult. Physically, they are very strong. A lot of quality players.

“It was a very nice match. It’s always a pleasure playing against Arne Slot teams because they try to play football in an offensive way. It was nice to watch.”

“We are going to suffer,” Enrique predicted of his side’s upcoming second leg, although that seemed to be based on the atmosphere of the venue rather than what the players on the pitch would offer. “Anfield is a special stadium,” he warned.

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Liverpool Legends Tear Team Apart

Jamie Carragher has been an outspoken critic of Slot. | IMAGO/Pro Sports Images

Jamie Carragher was aghast at what he had seen. “That was like watching a team from a lower division,” the former Champions League winner with the Reds wheezed on CBS Sports. “The gulf in class was very worrying from a Liverpool point of view.”

The change in formation was a particular sticking point for Carragher. “The manager has tried something but he’s got it massively wrong tactically, how he went about it,” the retired Liverpool icon fretted. “They were actually more open with the back five than they would be with the back four because they went man-to-man all over the pitch and the three center backs had to cover the width of the pitch.

“Watching Virgil van Dijk tonight in the middle of the back three...” Carragher, a former center back himself, lamented. “Normally, when you get to a certain age, you think, middle of a back three, that’s perfect for me, everyone’s in position, you get a bit of protection in your back five.

“This was different.

“Defenders were jumping into midfield. There was no one to mark. And Van Dijk, at 34 years of age, was having to run in there and run across. He couldn’t do it.

“People have criticized Van Dijk this season for his performances and I think it’s been harsh. He plays every game. The fella next to him has been awful all season and was poor again tonight, [Ibrahima] Konaté. He makes a mistake every game. That’s not easy to play alongside. I actually think Van Dijk has been one of Liverpool’s better players but tonight in that back three, I have never seen him so uncomfortable in a Liverpool shirt in my life.

“I think he will be pleading with Arne Slot to never play that system ever again because he found it so tough.”

Steven Gerrard wasn’t quite so scathing, pointing to Liverpool’s ability to frustrate PSG “for large periods of the game.” Yet, he had no defense for a “toothless” attack.

“Marquinhos [PSG’s captain at center back] has had the easiest game of the season,” Gerrard sighed on TNT Sports’ coverage, “he’s hardly done anything today. It’s going to take a huge performance for Liverpool to turn this around next week.”

Slot rejected the idea that his setup was relevant at all. “It’s completely fine with me if everyone wants to focus on the tactics,” the spiky Dutch boss sniffed. “But for me that’s absolutely not the story of the game today. Every tactic has been tried over here. But the result is always the same.” When the story is as unflattering as the one Liverpool wrote on Wednesday night, it’s little surprise Slot doesn’t want that one being told.

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