Arne Slot brought up his century in Istanbul on Tuesday night but there was no reason for the Liverpool boss to raise his bat.
Instead, after clapping the away end in the ‘hell’ of Galatasaray’s RAMS Park, Slot was down the tunnel to ruminate on familiar issues plaguing his team.
After 100 games, the Dutchman has a Premier League winner’s medal after a breathtaking first season defying the odds. That achievement should never be forgotten, nor played down.
But he also has the problem of a pretty tame title defence on his CV, with pundits and fans alike criticising his style of play.
So, here at the 100-game mark, Daily Mail Sport examines where Slot stands after a topsy-turvy two years at Anfield…
Liverpool’s 1-0 loss to Galatasaray in midweek was the 100th game of Arne Slot’s topsy-turvy Reds tenure
Despite Liverpool’s struggles this term, it shouldn’t be played down how impressive an achievement it was for Slot to win the Premier League in his debut season in England
The case for the defence
Let’s start with two questions.
If on the day Jurgen Klopp announced he was leaving Liverpool, you had been told the next boss would win a league title in his first season and have an average season the following year (but still be in Europe and the FA Cup in mid-March), what would you have said?
The answer would inevitably have been that Slot was a roaring success.
Second, if Liverpool were to be in the market for a new manager this summer, who out there is better than Slot?
Xabi Alonso, maybe, but does his style of play fit this squad? Enzo Maresca? Maybe not with his track record of falling out with club bosses. Francesco Farioli at Porto, who many now link with all the big jobs? He is not too dissimilar from Slot.
You could go through a long list of names.
Very few coaches have a better track record than Slot, a league champion in the Netherlands (just the second time since 2010 a team not named Ajax or PSV Eindhoven won the Eredivisie) and England (ending Manchester City’s four-year stronghold).
Nobody, including Slot, is saying that this season has been good enough. But if you are judging him overall on those 100 games, he has proved he is a top-level coach. Maybe the next six or so months will define whether the Dutchman is in the truly elite bracket.
Which available managers are better than Slot? Former Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca (right) has had issues with his bosses in the past
While ex-Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, though a talented coach, might not be a perfect fit for the Reds’ current squad
So why are fans so split?
It is easy to fall into the trap of using social media as a gauge and if you did, you would think every Liverpool supporter is against Slot.
That is not the case. The match-going fans who pay their money to follow the team are still largely behind him, but it is wrong to suggest it is a black or white issue: many supporters are supportive but disgruntled.
Why? Well, playing style is the biggest criticism. There is also Slot’s more reserved personality, when set against Klopp. Slot is not a tub-thumping individual who will go over to the Kop after every game, nor one who wants to be the ‘main character’.
Some would add that even when Liverpool have won games this season, they have not exactly been well-coached victories.
It has been a year of underperformance now, with the slide starting when they were knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain last March, in what was a seminal moment of his tenure. It was a tight tie but Luis Enrique was the first manager who seemed to ‘out-think’ Slot.
Oh, and there is the £450million summer spend. A poor season would have been excused last year after a quiet transfer window in 2024 – but after having the biggest outlay in Premier League history, Liverpool should probably be doing better.
It has been a year of underperformance for Liverpool under Slot now, ever since their Champions League exit on penalties to PSG last March
What are the mitigating circumstances?
There is one factor that must be at the forefront of your mind in any discussion about Liverpool this season: the tragic loss of Diogo Jota.
A close friend to many, a fan favourite and a versatile goalscorer to boot. For a squad in their mid-20s, the grief that will hit them daily is indescribable, incalculable and something that is not linear.
Some days will impact them more than ever: seeing where he used to sit, thinking about how the man nicknamed ‘Jots’ would react to certain things, hearing fans sing his name.
That is the biggest of many mitigating circumstances around this shoddy title defence.
Another is injuries: Alexander Isak, the £125m British record signing, has not yet been fully fit. Liverpool knew he would take several months to get up to speed but no one could have foreseen a broken leg occurring just before Christmas.
‘He is signed for six years, not six months,’ is the sentiment Slot often expresses and that is fair enough, though one of those six years is already a write-off.
Liverpool are yet to see the best of British record signing Alexander Isak, who picked up a major injury against Tottenham in December
Their injury record, coupled with the dramatic loss of form of the likes of Mohamed Salah, are mitigating factors in their decline
Two defenders are ruled out for the season, Alisson has been in and out of the team, Jeremie Frimpong is yet to put a run of games together and new signings have taken a bit longer than hoped to get up to full speed in the Premier League.
And then there is the Mohamed Salah conundrum. The best player in the league by far last season, it is not unfair to describe the Egyptian as a shadow of his former self now.
Others, like Ibrahima Konate, Alexis Mac Allister, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch and maybe even Alisson have seen their level drop significantly, with inconsistency an issue for every member of the squad, new or old.
So it is fair to say despite Slot’s deficiencies, he has been let down by the squad at times.
What must improve for him to manage another 100 games?
Working on the assumption his first 100 games have taken more than 18 months, Slot would bring up his double ton in autumn 2027 if he is still in the job.
By then, this club could look completely different. First of all, the core of Klopp’s great team may well all be gone: Salah, Alisson, Andy Robertson and captain Virgil van Dijk. All are out of contract in the next 18 months, as are Konate and the long-serving Joe Gomez.
Despite a mass overhaul last summer, more surgery will be needed in the next two summers.
Slot will want to do better in Europe – the loss to PSG has bugged him ever since and their current campaign hangs in the balance after a 1-0 first-leg defeat by Galatasaray.
It will be more fair, perhaps, to judge him based on another full season with this squad – and preferably when half of it is not injured. If by, say, this autumn, Liverpool still feel like a team lacking a positive trajectory, then the owners will have a decision to make.
Right now, though, it is understood Fenway Sports Group and the leadership at the club are backing Slot.
Liverpool are still in the FA Cup and Champions League and could still have a special season – albeit they need to come from behind against Galatasaray
What does Slot think of his 100?
When asked how he reflects on his time at Anfield, Slot said: ‘This might sound weird if I say only positive, because this season has not been only positive.
‘The support I have always felt, not talking about social media – I don’t follow that much – but the support I have felt from the home crowd, away crowd, people inside the building, ownership…
‘What we have done here together to achieve the things we have achieved, is in my memory only very special. We are struggling now, that is also very obvious. This is probably the nicest club to struggle in.
‘This club has always shown in different periods, everyone is there for you. You try even harder. It is a fantastic club to work in because of the facilities, people, fans. It is not all negative when we don’t have the performances we want. It is still a great place to be.
‘Even better if you win the league! Even in a season like this, it is still a privilege.’
‘What we have done here together to achieve the things we have achieved, is in my memory only very special,’ insists Slot
Daily Mail Sport’s verdict on Slot’s century
I have been there from the start of Slot’s reign, at his unveiling midway through Euro 2024, to two pre-season tours and nearly every match home and away.
The highs have been very high: thrashing Tottenham to win the league at a canter 11 months ago, beating Real Madrid twice, maybe Salah’s best season yet (the Egyptian finishing as low as fourth in the Ballon d’Or was a farce). Fans will never forget spring 2025.
A slight fall-off this season would have been excusable, particularly when considering the mitigating factors of Jota’s tragic passing, injuries, new signings taking time, star players ageing, and plain bad luck.
Slot’s problem is that it has not been a slight fall-off but a dramatic decline. The lows have been very low. If it continues and he cannot arrest the slide, of course it is right to ask questions of his future.
But with the possibility of an FA Cup and Champions League title, this could still end up being a special season. Let’s see what the next two months bring – and then we can talk again about future milestones.
