Liverpool initially had no intention of selling Luis Díaz this summer, but the Colombian winger has harbored the desire to leave Anfield for a year.
Was the Heavy Defeat to PSV a "Turning Point" for Liverpool?
In last week’s Champions League match, Liverpool suffered a humiliating 4-1 loss to PSV Eindhoven, pushing calls for manager Arne Slot’s dismissal to near-fever pitch. However, amid uncertainty over his future, Slot remained calm in the following days, insisting he still had the support of Liverpool’s top brass, including sporting director Richard Hughes and Fenway Sports Group’s football CEO Michael Edwards.
"Since I arrived here, we’ve been having the same conversations," Slot said at a press conference last Friday. "We keep fighting and striving to improve, which is what all of us are doing. These discussions are no different from when I first came."
Nevertheless, the defeat to PSV is being viewed by some within the club as a "turning point moment." While it didn’t directly seal Slot’s fate, the result has raised previously unvoiced concerns, compounding worries over the team’s poor recent form and results.
Liverpool Are Not a Club That Sacks Coaches Lightly
That said, Liverpool are not a club prone to sacking managers hastily. The core of the club’s hierarchy also acknowledges that the team’s slump cannot be solely blamed on Slot. Despite the recent poor run, the Dutchman’s 63% win rate remains the highest in Liverpool’s history, and he is one of only two Reds managers to win a league title in the Premier League era.
In the spring of 2024, when Liverpool’s hierarchy was searching for Jürgen Klopp’s successor, they compiled a 60-page document detailing why Slot was the best candidate and presented the data to him at his home in Zwolle, Netherlands. The former Feyenoord manager, who won the top-flight title in his debut season last year, seemed like a prescient choice based on that meticulous research. However, after winning just 4 of their last 14 matches, Slot appears to have lost his Midas touch.
On Wednesday night, Liverpool drew with Sunderland, meaning the team has gone three consecutive matches without a win at Anfield for the first time since March 2021. Back then, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the team went eight games without a win with no fans in attendance. Now, the Reds’ poor form comes without such an "excuse," causing growing concern. Slot, however, denied that Anfield has lost its intimidation factor.
Slot Is Not the Only "Villain" for Liverpool’s Slump
While Liverpool have underperformed this season, it would be unfair to lay all the blame on Slot.
Despite significant summer signings, Liverpool’s squad depth and balance still lag behind league leaders Arsenal, who are now the favorites to win the title. Defensively, the failure to sign Crystal Palace center-back Marc Guehi on transfer deadline day has become increasingly costly. This season, Ibrahima Konaté and captain Virgil van Dijk have been far from their best, while new signing Léo has been sidelined with an ACL injury.
Sources told ESPN that Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish initially accepted Liverpool’s £35 million bid for Guehi, and the player was granted permission to undergo a medical, but Parish pulled the plug at the last minute due to failing to find a replacement. However, such a scenario could have been avoided if Liverpool had acted earlier in the transfer window.
In attack, Liverpool seem to lack pace and trickery on the flanks, and the decision to let Luis Díaz join Bayern Munich now looks increasingly unwise. Díaz has scored 12 goals for Bayern this season. Sources say Liverpool were initially reluctant to let the Colombian international leave, rejecting a bid from Barcelona early in the transfer window, but ultimately accepted Bayern’s offer.
According to sources, the player was "determined" to leave Anfield and had been open to a new challenge since the summer of 2024. Given that, it made commercial sense to recoup a substantial transfer fee for the player, who turns 29 in January, but failing to sign a suitable replacement has undoubtedly impacted Liverpool’s performance this season.
The view within Anfield is that signing another senior left winger would hinder the development of talented teenager Trey Nyoni, who scored the winning goal in Liverpool’s dramatic 3-2 victory over Newcastle United in August. However, the 17-year-old has played just 41 minutes in the Premier League since then and is clearly not yet ready to be a regular starter in the top flight.
