Eighteen defeats, the same old mistakes - Liverpool and Arne Slot are stuck in a doom loop

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However, Sunday’s 3-2 defeat by arch rivals Manchester United can’t simply be shrugged off. The truth is that the positivity and momentum generated by three straight league wins has been carelessly squandered. Slot’s hopes of going into the summer with the kind of late season flourish which would have added weight to his recent bullish talk about the future being bright lie in tatters. Rather than go some way to silencing his detractors among a divided fanbase, this was an afternoon when the Dutch head coach provided no shortage of ammunition for his critics. Yes, there were mitigating factors. With Alexander Isak ruled out after picking up a minor groin problem, Liverpool were without their record signing, as well as the injured Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike, Alisson, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni and Wataru Endo. They had six academy youngsters among their nine substitutes. But Slot read the room when he refused to use that long list of absentees as an excuse. “I haven’t spoken about missing players and I’m not talking about it now,” he told reporters post-match. “If you can play a second half like we did, there is no necessity to have other players here.” It was a similar story when the conversation turned to United’s controversial second goal which was allowed to stand after a lengthy VAR check, despite replays appearing to show that the ball had brushed against the fingers of Benjamin Sesko before bobbling over the line. Slot was adamant that it should have been disallowed and bemoaned how Liverpool had been on the wrong side of big decisions “the whole season”, but then wisely had the self-awareness to highlight how they had been masters of their own downfall against United. “The second goal we didn’t concede because of a handball, we conceded it because we lost the ball in a stupid position and we lost a few big moments afterwards in duels,” he said. “We have to first look at ourselves, that is completely clear. There is a pattern that we concede ridiculous goals. That we have more influence on, so I should focus much more on that rather than these referee decisions that go against us.” This was certainly no hard luck story and the statistics are damning. Only on three occasions since Liverpool were promoted to the top-flight in 1962 have they suffered more than the current tally of 18 defeats in all competitions in a season. The last time was in 2009-10 (19 defeats) when Rafa Benitez’s tenure unravelled amid the backdrop of the club being dragged to the brink of administration by the ruinous and debt-ridden ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett. Liverpool limped home seventh with Benitez being replaced by Roy Hodgson. On his previous visit 20 months earlier, Slot’s name had boomed around Old Trafford as he masterminded an emphatic 3-0 triumph which truly launched his managerial reign. He became the first Liverpool manager to win his first away league game against United since George Kay in 1936 and they marched on to title glory. Now it’s only unwanted history he’s making. This is the first season both Manchester clubs have completed a league double over Liverpool since 1912-13. Liverpool’s away record against teams in the top half of the Premier League table is pitiful. With a trip to Villa to come, they have taken two points out of a possible 24. Far too often they have wilted on their travels. The fact they still look destined to secure Champions League football says far more about the inadequacies of the chasing pack rather than any signs of Liverpool progressing in recent months. Owners Fenway Sports Group wants to give Slot the opportunity to put things right and this is a squad clearly in need of reinforcements, but concern stems from how it’s the same old problems that continue to blight performances. Slow starts have dogged Liverpool all campaign and the passive manner in which they came out of the blocks against United beggared belief. They were second best in all departments. That was epitomised by the feeble manner in which Alexis Mac Allister turned his back, resulting in Matheus Cunha’s strike deflecting off him and leaving Freddie Woodman beaten for the opener. It’s fair to ask questions about the preparations. A lot of the players had enjoyed mini breaks in Europe after being given some time off after the win over Crystal Palace. If Slot thought that a breather would do them good then he was mistaken. Instead they were lethargic and lacked intensity. The second goal was even worse as Bruno Fernandes somehow got the better of both Ibrahima Konate and Andy Robertson aerially at the far post and Sesko was able to bundle it home. “You know when you come here that they want to start strong and aggressive, we were aware of that,” Slot said. “But I saw us not picking up the second balls. If you concede after six minutes in this stadium, you always know you are going to face a period of struggle afterwards. One of the first times after that we lost the ball, they counter-attacked us for 2-0. Then, of course everything we have done before deserves a lot of criticism.” Slot’s options were limited but he blundered by sticking Cody Gakpo out on the left and using Florian Wirtz and Dominik Szoboszlai as No 10s. There was no focal point up front in the first half and Liverpool’s attacking threat was non-existent. It didn’t help that the ineffective Jeremie Frimpong was so off the pace. Putting Gakpo centrally for the second half with Wirtz on the left helped to trigger a transformation. They were given a helping hand by United’s generosity as Szoboszlai latched on to Amad’s wayward pass and ran through to half the deficit. Then Senne Lammens’ blunder resulted in Gakpo tucking away Szoboszlai’s pass. Szoboszlai (13 goals, 10 assists) became the first Liverpool midfielder to achieve double figures for both goals and assists in a season since Steven Gerrard in 2013-14 (14 goals, 14 assists). At 2-2, Liverpool looked the more likely winners. United were rattled. But not for the first time this season, Slot’s side let their opponents off the hook and conceded a painfully avoidable winner. Substitute Milos Kerkez was beaten by Amad at the far post and Mac Allister sliced the ball straight to Kobbie Mainoo, who finished in style. With 16 league goals conceded in the final 15 minutes of games this season, only Newcastle United (19) and Burnley (17) have concede more than Liverpool late on. Whether it’s a tactical issue or more to do with mentality, the buck stops with Slot. No harm done in terms of the league table but this was still a bad day for the Dutchman. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms