Liverpool FC in the Champions League: Slot must prevent the price from crashing

Liverpool FC’s season so far may remind John Henry of a volatile share price: constant ups and downs, without any consistency in the results. The American, who owns the world club from Merseyside through his holding company Fenway Sports Group (FSG), once made his fortune trading raw materials on the stock exchange. One of his special skills is not being disturbed by temporary highs and lows – a quality that he also demonstrates in his decisions for the Reds.

Despite the alarming 4-0 debacle against Manchester City in the FA Cup on Easter weekend (already the third defeat of the season against their arch-rivals), Henry is sticking with coach Arne Slot, who is coming under increasing pressure, for the time being. The hard currency for the owner is the renewed qualification for the Champions League. His club can still secure this in two ways: by at least fifth place in the Premier League, because thanks to the strong performances of English clubs in Europe there will most likely be an additional starting place – or by winning the Champions League, which automatically guarantees participation. The LFC is currently in fifth place in the league; and in the European Cup they face defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals.

Missing this minimum target for the season would mean a significant price drop for Liverpool’s ambitions. Historically, Henry’s leadership team has acted differently in such situations. While several coaches had to leave after the club was taken over in 2010, Slot’s predecessor Jürgen Klopp was later given unwavering trust in difficult times. The same currently applies to Slot, whose contract still runs for one year. The Dutchman was chosen as Klopp’s successor in 2024 in a careful selection process and earned the respect of the club by winning the championship in his first season. This season, however, his team got into a crisis that he has not yet been able to solve – also because the responsibility for it does not lie solely with him.

The trigger was the huge but necessary upheaval in the professional squad last summer: ten players left the club for a total of 220 million euros, while six new players were signed for 480 million. In retrospect, the management made several misjudgments in squad planning. After much consideration, the club initially extended the contracts of striker Mohamed Salah, 33, and captain Virgil van Djik, 34, by two years each. However, both veterans were no longer able to match their outstanding level from previous years. The club and Salah recently announced that they would be parting ways after this season.

In good games it is possible to combine power football with a ball possession approach

The declining influence of the two figureheads has a direct impact on the team’s play, which lacks defensive stability and offensive power. This was also recently seen against City, when Salah missed a penalty and missed several high-quality chances, and van Dijk clumsily caused a penalty on the other side that made it 0-1. As an alternative to the attack, Liverpool made the record purchase of Newcastle’s Alexander Isak (150 million euros) on the last transfer day. They also tried in vain to poach central defender Marc Guéhi from Crystal Palace; In the winter, Guéhi went to Manchester City. Isak, on the other hand, came to Liverpool not physically fit and has been set back by injuries ever since.

This loss of substance can hardly be compensated for. LFC’s game regularly lacks intensity and resilience, especially away from home. With the support of their own fans in Anfield, some important victories were achieved: Slot’s team beat around three Champions League quarter-finalists – Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid in the Champions League and Arsenal in the league. In these games, as in the successful previous year, the Reds managed to combine Klopp’s power football with Slot’s ball possession approach. If this doesn’t work, the performances often look shockingly lacking in identity.

Slot has to put up with this accusation: his selection of personnel apparently contributes to the fact that his team often lacks the necessary freshness. After the ten Champions League games so far this season, Liverpool were only able to record three wins in the league. The coach relies almost exclusively on a fixed starting eleven. Accordingly, there is an enormous gap between regular players and substitutes in the list of minutes played in the Premier League: Hugo Ekitiké, the eleventh most frequently used player on the pitch, has almost 500 minutes more than Curtis Jones, almost 900 minutes more than Conor Bradley, who has been injured for some time – and even over 1000 minutes more than Andrew Robertson in 14th place. The curious record of the attacker Federico is also significant Chiesa: Despite 23 appearances, he only played 278 minutes, an average of twelve per game.

Slot’s distrust in the squad’s breadth has already become apparent in the championship season. The coach recently said in retrospect that one of the reasons for the title could have been the early Champions League exit against PSG in the round of 16, because his team then stayed a whole week to prepare for the league games. And because he didn’t have to rotate a lot, but could largely trust his starting eleven.

Before the new PSG duel, Slot is largely dependent on a positive reaction from his leading players, which he largely supports publicly. For the coach it is now about at least qualifying for the Champions League so that he can then possibly make further adjustments to the squad. He was already involved in the club’s transfer planning, he recently assured, adding pointedly: “I know why you’re asking about it.” For weeks, the English media has been talking about the return of the Spaniard Xabi Alonso, who once played for LFC and would be available as a potential successor after his expulsion from Real Madrid.

“Nobody can predict anything reliably,” FSG boss John Henry once said about investments on the stock market. He could currently say the same about his Liverpool FC.