TL;DR it's not an excuse for Slot's side underperforming, but it highlights the type of factors which FSG will take into account when it comes to assessing his performance and future employment prospects.
It's for the SMCs really, who will surely froth at the mouth at this
FSG are patient but they are not mugs.
They'll take a lot of things into account and a big one will be:
1. At what point will Slot have had the benefit of the new signings, match fit, for a critical mass amount of cumulative minutes
(...in practical terms that'll largely come down to getting Isak fit and on the pitch often enough with Wirtz and Ekitike. The month or so that Mo is away at AFCON will likely be the initial litmus test for whether the three of them can work well together)
2. How is the team performing at that point & what do the future prospects look like
If Liverpool have a poor season but Slot ends the season showing signs that the new signings are gelling well and the side overall look in decent shape then FSG won't throw the baby out with the bath water due to one ba(l)d season.
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One of the Anfield Wrap guys made a good point on this recently.
In pure transfer fees Liverpool lost around £265m of talent in the summer. Arguably you could add another £100m+ on to that if you consider the free Trent would've gone for if he had a few year on his contract and the fact that no fees were booked this summer for the Harvey Elliott (loan with obligation to buy) andd Tsimikas (loan only) deals.
That's a lot of talent out the door immediately on day 1.
Yes, they spent a monstruous sum (~£425m) on new arrivals but they've not yet really anywhere near the full benefit / usage from those signings
- Leoni's season was ended before he could complete a full 90min appearance
- Isak (30% of the summer spend) was clearly still working his way back to a gameweek 1 level of fitness, when an injury ruled him out
- Frimpong went almost injury-free for 6 seasons yet has picked up two hamstring injuries and missed a lot of games already
Again, not an excuse. But it goes some way to adding some nuance to the
"...but they spent a trillion in the summer and got worse" discussion.
I haven't run the numbers but I'd reckon the average market value of the XI who started games for Liverpool this season isn't hugely higher than it was for the bulk of last season. But that should be less and less the case as the season progresses.
There's no doubting that Liverpool are in worse shape now than they were last season (up to securing the title). The clock is ticking for Slot to change that.
At a minimum -
to keep his job - he needs to secure CL football and demonstrate that, going into a new season, the signings he has grafted on to the rump of Klopp's team constitute a credible title-challenging football team for the 2026/27 season.
ats lazy ankle dance on Sunday anyway 