Liverpool is four defeats in a row. Four goal behind leaders Arsenal. Something is drastically wrong at Liverpool and suddenly, the dream season that Arne Slot thought he might have is becoming reality and disintegrating at a faster rate than anticipated.

A year earlier it took Liverpool only a year to charge towards the league title with power and panache. Their attack was electric, their defence was near impregnable, their pressing was relentless. Those qualities appear to be old fashioned. It has a wobbly backline, a stagnant midfield, and the attack force appears bizarrely toothless. More importantly, the club of power and passion looks pale.

And the biggest question of all is Arne Slot even aware of his optimal starting eleven?

To begin with, inconsistency in selection has been the most obvious problem of Liverpool. Since he assumed leadership slot has used almost 450 million, but despite that expenditure, the team appears unsettled. Three of the most expensive signings by Slot, including Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong, were not even on the bench in the 2-1 loss to Manchester United at Anfield. They are in excess of 214 million between them.

To a team that fortunately boasted a sense of unity and connectedness under Jurgen Klopp, the policy of rotating adopted by Slot is disorganized. Players cannot comprehend their roles, partnerships appear compelled and the pace at which Liverpool has been characterised all but vanished.

But the biggest issue discussed is on the topic of one man Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian is an icon of Liverpool almost ten years but this season, he does not appear to be in sync. Having scored 29 goals last year, Salah has not scored in the league since mid September and has not scored on open play since the first game victory against Bournemouth.

In 2017 his bag was on full showing Sunday when he came out of the Kop skewing a sitter wide. Salah is 33 and does not appear to be accelerating and feeling confident. He is no longer scaring people away with inside runs and quick cuts.

Slower, possession-based approach that Slot has been adopting is also not favoring him. Salah is a transition player who pushes out to the space and runs over the backs. He is now being forced to play with a back to goal and appears to be lost. Salah has recently criticized by Wayne Rooney over his work rate as a defender, indicating that when he gets no goals, his unwillingness to track back is more evident. The major question that Slot poses is whether he is bold enough, or tactical agility enough, to drop the most legendary current player in Liverpool.

Secondly, the chemistry of the forward line is also not determined. Alexander Isak came for the amount of British record 125 million with the expectations and pressure. However, the initial outing of the Swedish striker has not been easy to hear he has not scored in his seven games and has had little to do with build-up play. Against United, Isak only had 19 touches with him being replaced.

Moreover, the defensive formation is the arean in which Liverpool appear to be weakest. The right flank is one that has been exposed severally this season. Slot has been unable to replace Trent Alexander Arnold with a reliable player since the latter is currently playing in Real Madrid. Jeremie Frimpong who was signed at 29.5 million never settled and poor consistency of Conor Bradley and sometimes fill-in by Dominik Szoboszlai at right back have further complicated things.

Virtually from the right side almost 40 percent of the opposition attacks have fallen upon Liverpool and it is costing them. Chelsea used that vulnerability to get their winner on October 4 and Manchester United on Anfield. It was described as a mess by former striker in the Premier League Chris Sutton who poses that Frimpong is not a natural defender and Szoboszlai is being wasted in the wrong position.

On the other side there is not a lot of brightness on the picture on the other side on the flank. Andy Robertson, who has been one of the most reliable full-backs at Liverpool, has been replaced by Milos Kerkez to the bench, who a 40 million summer signing with Bournemouth. But positioning by the Hungarian has been very inconsistent and has on many occasions abandoned Virgil van Dijk to himself. Sutton was straightforward “Kerkez has not been an improvement Slot seems uncertain about his own top XI.

In the meantime, the 116 million signing German Florian Wirtz who came over to Bayer Leverkusen is incognito. He is supposed to bring in creativity and ambitions in midfield, yet has failed to fit with Slots system. The central position that Wirtz had favored as a leftsided, floating one under Xabi Alonso has been substituted with a more stringent central position behind the strikers. The result? Less runs, less risks and no goals yet.

During the times he has played Wirtz has made the most chances per 90 minutes of any Liverpool player. However he is not able to make the starting lineup as Slot has been clinging to the three Szoboszlai, Mac Allister and Gravenberch trio that led to the title challenge of last season. It is loyalty that is costing dynamism and unpredictability.

However, as compared to Hugo Ekitike who started the season in good spirit with five goals in eight matches he is now marginalised following a coloured red card in the Carabao Cup. Ekitike has been hampered by Slot insisting on keeping Isak in the focus has not yielded any outcomes but his loyalty seems to be a waste. Provided that Isak is still struggling, Liverpool may require the combined presence of both men on the pitch to regain attacking fluent form.

Arne Slot must be able to prevent the slide by being clear and convincing. The team is too good and too costly to pass another month of downturn. The form of Salah, the confidence of Isak, the integration of Wirtz, and the balance of the full-back are some of the urgent issues.

Liverpool are still in the hunt, but the halo is on the wane. The problem that Slot has is not only tactical but psychological. He has to remind his players what the red shirt requires: speed, hunger and unity. Otherwise this may be the season the time Liverpool will also be remembered as how they wasted money, rather than how fast they lost their identity.

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