When Dominik Szoboszlai - Liverpool's best player of the 2025-2026 season - slipped in the situation leading to the second goal conceded against Aston Villa, it seemed to be a moment that captured the entire disappointing Premier League title defense journey of the Anfield home team.
On a normal day, that mistake may not be paid too much attention to, because Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins still have quite a lot to do before the ball goes into the net. But Liverpool's season seems to always go in the worst possible direction.
Rogers launched a favorable assist for Watkins to finish into the far corner. The shot was not too perfect but still changed direction enough to defeat Liverpool's defense. That was also Slot's feeling throughout the season at Anfield when everything that could have gone wrong happened.
However, Slot is not the type of coach who often seeks excuses. He always tries to explain bad results instead of avoiding responsibility.
The Dutch strategist himself understands that his success will ultimately be assessed by the results on the pitch. And according to Liverpool's standards, this season clearly does not meet expectations.
However, The Kop cannot naturally consider competing for titles every year as obvious. A big team also needs to know how to overcome and recover after failed seasons.
The 2022-2023 season under Jurgen Klopp was a typical example when Liverpool only finished fifth in the Premier League, were eliminated early in the FA Cup and stopped in the Champions League round of 16 against Real Madrid.
In the current season under Slot, Liverpool is likely to finish in the top 4 or top 5 of the Premier League. They stopped in the FA Cup quarter-finals against Manchester City and were also eliminated from the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals. That was definitely a disappointing season, but not necessarily a sign that Slot completely failed.
The Dutch coach faced a series of difficulties. Liverpool parted ways with important players such as Luis Diaz and Trent Alexander-Arnold - two players with particularly great influence in the team's playing style.
Besides, Mohamed Salah also experienced a clear decline in the season. Instead of becoming an inspiration as usual, the Egyptian striker sometimes puts more pressure with public statements about the team's playing style.
Salah's statement about wanting Liverpool to "return to being a strong attacking team" is seen as more reflecting his own form this season.
In the opposite direction, Liverpool's new signings are also facing difficulties. Hugo Ekitike played quite actively before suffering a serious Achilles tendon injury, while Alexander Isak also had a season interrupted by a broken leg. Jeremie Frimpong even missed out due to injury more than the total time he missed in more than 4 years playing for Bayer Leverkusen.
Of course, these things cannot become an excuse for Liverpool's decline, but clearly those are factors that directly affect the team's performance.
When signing a 3-year contract with Liverpool in 2024, if anyone said that Slot would help the team win the Premier League in the first season, most fans would not dare to believe it.
Therefore, despite the disappointments of this season, Slot still deserves more time to correct his mistakes and bring Liverpool back stronger.
