Five Issues Liverpool Need to Address After Woeful Title Defense

Disgruntled supporters are pleading for sweeping changes on Merseyside.

Liverpool supporters want a change of manager. | James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images

As the fourth official’s board lit up ’73’ in red, Anfield responded with dismay. You wondered whether Arne Slot was having his Nuno Espírito Santo moment.

Back in October 2021, the then-Tottenham Hotspur manager almost guaranteed his demise by withdrawing the bright Lucas Moura from proceedings during a pitiful 3–0 home defeat to Manchester United. A cacophony of boos depicted the extent of fan discontent, and Daniel Levy swiftly pivoted to Antonio Conte.

Now, the Fenway Sports Group (FSG) are unlikely to act so hastily. In fact, they almost certainly won’t. Still, Anfield’s reaction to Rio Ngumoha’s substitution manifested the scrutiny Slot is under. Comparisons have been drawn to the end of 2014–15, when Brendan Rodgers’ Reds endured a miserable end to the season, a year removed from their thrilling title tilt.

The Northern Irishman subsequently lost his job a couple of months into the following season, and although Slot is "100% convinced" Liverpool will be a "different team" in 2026–27, it currently seems likely for the Dutchman to succumb as Rodgers did a decade before.

If the Reds are to bounce back next season and embark on the sort of campaign many expected them to this time around, here are five issues they must resolve, excluding a change of manager.

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1. Striking Gold With Succession Plans?

Liverpool will soon lose a swathe of leaders. | Steven Halliwell/MI News/NurPhoto/Getty Images

This Liverpool team has struggled on the leadership front this season, and the Reds have got to consider life beyond their stalwarts.

Mohamed Salah is departing this summer after a legendary Anfield career but a bad season, while star goalkeeper Alisson has also been linked with a move away after an injury-riddled campaign.

Liverpool were at least proactive in signing their long-term replacement for the Brazilian, but Giorgi Mamardashvili has huge shoes to fill, and is yet to universally convince.

Acquiring a Salah replacement will be close to impossible, with the club unlikely to hit so emphatically as they did with the Egyptian back in 2017. A ready-made superstar in the mould of Michael Olise would cost a fortune, and the club surely can’t spend as liberally as they did last summer.

Virgil van Dijk will be sticking around for another year, even if his performance levels have fluctuated rather drastically this term after an excellent 2024–25 season. Jérémy Jacquet has been touted as the heir to the Dutchman’s once-imperious throne, and a year working under Van Dijk’s guidance should do the young Frenchman good

Then there’s Andy Robertson, whose role was set to diminish during his final year at the club. However, Milos Kerkez’s struggles in year one have seen the Scot share more of the load than he might’ve expected. Kerkez was regarded as an excellent signing when it was made, but plenty are concerned about the Hungarian’s capacity to succeed Robertson long-term.

Ultimately, Liverpool are drifting into a new era in terms of playing personnel, with the icons of Jürgen Klopp’s reign either long gone, recently departed or soon bidding farewell. Much has been done to ease this transition, but plenty of work is required to ensure Liverpool’s fresh dawn is a prosperous one.

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2. Balancing Act in Attack

Can they co-exist? | Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

Liverpool completed last summer’s record-breaking spend with the monster purchase of Alexander Isak from Newcastle United after a lengthy saga.

Now, we know that the Swede, perhaps because of a heavily disrupted preseason, hasn’t had the debut campaign he would’ve wanted on Merseyside. A leg-break sustained in December means Isak missed a big chunk of the season, too, and a sluggish return to the fold hasn’t exactly encouraged supporters heading into 2026–27.

Many have wondered whether the acquisition of Isak was necessary at all, but Hugo Ekitike’s Achilles injury means Isak has a huge role to play next season.

Who knows how the devastating setback will impact the Frenchman when he’s fit once more, but whoever the Liverpool manager is will be tasked with allowing Ekitike and Isak to co-exist. Two strikers who prefer to drift out to the left, their similarities render a strike partnership tough to master. Shunting one out wide seems sub-optimal, too.

There’s no obvious solution, especially with Florian Wirtz having his own acclimatisation issues. Slot has ultimately failed to deliver attacking balance this season, with a range of configurations and combinations unable to provide sustained joy in the final third.

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3. Midfield Fluidity

Liverpool’s midfield has become too fluid. | Molly Darlington/Getty Images

Liverpool have simply been far too easy to play against. Slot’s ideas in midfield haven’t changed from their title-winning campaign, with positional fluidity encouraged, but the absence of a recognised holding midfielder has left their defense exposed.

Ryan Gravenberch is typically the deepest of the bunch, but he‘s often caught ahead of the ball trying to contribute in and around the box. Alexis Mac Allister‘s the same, and his fading legs haven’t allowed him to recover in time. The most athletic of the bunch, Dominik Szoboszlai, has spent far too long filling a square peg in a round hole at right back.

Liverpool’s 2024–25 success suggests that Slot’s midfield concept can ultimately work, but fatigue has facilitated more mistakes and mental errors.

You could argue that the Reds have become too fluid in the middle of the park, with their extravagant rotations sacrificing the security of their rest defense, and allowing teams to counterattack on them with ease. They rank 10th in the Premier League with 31 fast breaks surrendered, but, according to Opta, only five teams have conceded more goals from such situations.

Slot could tweak his instructions and encourage fewer forward forays from deep positions, or Liverpool could target a midfield enforcer who sits and passes the ball forward efficiently. A drab, dreary build-up bereft of risk has been a feature of their play this season, taming a typically fervent home atmosphere. A semblance of rock and roll has got to return to Anfield.

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4. Homegrown Crisis

Curtis Jones is set to leave the club this summer. | James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images)

Let’s step away from the tactical side of things for a minute. Liverpool may also have a specific roster-building problem to solve this summer.

Premier League rules stipulate that of the 25 players clubs register for their roster, at least eight must be homegrown eligible.

To qualify as homegrown, a player must have been registered to a club in the English or Welsh FAs “for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons, or 36 months, before his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).”

Liverpool just about worked their way around the potential issue for 2025–26, but they’re trending towards more difficulties. That’s because two of their homegrown players, Joe Gomez and Curtis Jones, are poised to leave when their contracts expire in 2027, while Harvey Elliott is also expected to be on the move after a terrible Aston Villa loan.

The club’s once-healthy stock of academy-nurtured stars has dwindled, and their absence of homegrown eligible players could shape their transfer policy this summer, even if several on the non-homegrown roster spots are freed up, too.

A balance must be struck between ensuring the two quotas are filled and signing players with the requisite experience and quality.

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5. Dormant Right-Hand Side

Jeremie Frimpong has underwhelmed in his debut season. | Jean Catuffe/Getty Images

The once potent right flank has become problematic for Liverpool, and that’s not solely because of Salah’s downturn this season. The Egyptian was always going to find it hard to match his staggering output from 2024–25.

Perhaps it was the exit of Trent Alexander-Arnold that the club underestimated. Alexander-Arnold’s relationship with Salah doubtless contributed to the winger’s immense campaign, and the absence of the right back’s passing ability has forced Salah to create more on his own back.

Jeremie Frimpong was signed as the Englishman’s replacement after excelling in the Bundesliga’s space haven. However, Salah’s poor form and the absence of alternatives mean Slot has also used the speedy Dutchman in the Egyptian’s place.

Frimpong, though, has struggled in both roles when he hasn’t been dealing with a hamstring injury. He lacks one-on-one mastery going both ways and has been unable to provide the necessary security defensively.

The constant chopping and changing at the right back position hasn’t allowed for any form of relationship to develop, with Slot utilizing a bunch of supposed solutions that compromise his team elsewhere—taking Szoboszlai out of midfield, for example.

Another reset is required this summer, with Conor Bradley’s return from injury potentially significant. As for Frimpong, it remains to be seen just how effective he can be on English shores.

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