Liverpool’s Struggles Continue as Manager Faces Criticism

After Liverpool’s decisive league victory in late April, the team surprisingly failed to secure a win in their final four Premier League matches. As the season drew to a close, manager Arne Slot took a trip to Ibiza, where he was seen partying with Wayne Lineker. Fast forward to the present, and Liverpool finds themselves in 12th place in the table, having lost six of their last seven league matches in the 2025-26 season. This decline has prompted Red Devils legend Paul Scholes to express his disapproval of Slot’s actions at the end of last season.

On The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, Scholes remarked, “I believe this downward trend began toward the end of last season, following their league title win. They went away to Ibiza, and honestly, Arne Slot was DJing there. This occurred before the season ended, which I find disrespectful and classless.”

While Slot has not publicly addressed his Ibiza trip, he has acknowledged his sense of responsibility for the team’s “ridiculous” decline in form. Having earned considerable goodwill after leading Liverpool to the title last season without significant squad enhancements, his situation has become precarious following an investment of over £400 million ($527m) on new players this summer.

Ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash against PSV Eindhoven, Slot stated, “I would describe our current situation as almost ridiculous—something I did not anticipate at any club I would be working at, especially not at Liverpool. It is unbelievable. If you look for excuses, you will always find them, but they won’t help with performance. This situation is unexpected for the club, for me, and for everyone. However, being at a club like Liverpool means we can confront challenges together. The more difficult things become, the stronger our collective resolve should be to achieve the successes that Liverpool is known for.”

Entering this PSV encounter, Liverpool faces the aftermath of a 3-0 defeat to struggling Nottingham Forest. Captain Virgil van Dijk has articulated that the players must take accountability, stating they need to work together to extricate the club from this “mess.”

Interestingly, last season, Liverpool conceded 41 goals on their path to winning the Premier League title. In stark contrast, they have already allowed 20 goals in just 12 matches this season. Consequently, Slot deemed this defensive frailty unacceptable and has taken ownership of the team’s vulnerabilities.

“We are conceding far more goals than last season. The number of goals we have allowed, particularly from set-pieces, is close to ridiculous for a club of our stature,” he told reporters. “While we still create enough chances to secure results from open play, I take full responsibility and feel guilty for our performance.

“It is challenging to pinpoint what we can learn from these losses at this moment. I have repeatedly stated that there are aspects we can improve upon, yet these improvements have not materialized. There are numerous reasons for our defeats, but from the perspective of Liverpool Football Club, this situation is unacceptable. We must begin winning matches again, which requires significant effort and execution of fundamental tasks, something we are currently failing to do. Simple football is often the most difficult to master.”

Wednesday’s home match against PSV represents a crucial opportunity for Liverpool to recover from their recent defeat. They will then compete away against West Ham in the Premier League on Sunday. Success in both fixtures could alleviate some of the pressure surrounding Anfield; failure to secure victories, however, may put Slot’s position under intense scrutiny.