Liverpool finds itself in quite a predicament, but suggesting the dismissal of Arne Slot is simply outlandish. The idea doesn’t hold water.

Manchester United fans, eager to relish their rare ascendancy over Liverpool in the Premier League standings, are questioning why Slot’s current struggles aren’t getting more attention. The reason is straightforward: he led his team to a Premier League championship last season.

United, on the other hand, hasn’t come close to clinching the title since 2013. Perhaps if they hadn’t gone through a revolving door of managers since Sir Alex Ferguson’s era, their situation might look different today.

So, what’s Liverpool’s best course of action? In essence, they need to be patient. Failing to retain the title this season isn’t a catastrophe. In truly competitive leagues, such fluctuations are typical. Securing a top-four finish, and with it a coveted spot in the Champions League, would suffice financially and strategically.

Even the biggest clubs experience off years. Manchester City faced one last year. Similarly, Klopp’s Liverpool stumbled the season following their 2020 title victory during the Covid pandemic. Yet, Klopp remained at the helm.

On Sky Sports at the weekend, Gary Neville talked about changing systems and personnel. It’s all very knee-jerk. The sensible thing is to allow a good manager to find a way to get good players back in to better form. If Liverpool are not in the top four by the season’s end then that will be the time to talk about Slot and his future.

In the meantime, we may ask why Liverpool did not target a holding midfield player in the summer and maybe Slot should too.

In 2023, Liverpool tried to sign Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. The following year, they thought they had Martin Zubimendi wrapped up but he changed his mind. So Liverpool clearly recognised they had a problem in that position.

Ryan Gravenberch filled the hole for them brilliantly last season but the need remained and, as a back four buckles under the weight of low form and confidence right now, it could be argued it’s more obvious than ever.

Sol set the tone at the Emirates

Arsenal let their supporters choose the seven faces for the enormous tifo that hung from one end of the ground before the north London derby. And centre stage – arms outstretched as if to hold the crowd in his embrace – was former central defender Sol Campbell. 

Through one gesture, Arsenal let it be known exactly what the game meant to them and their supporters. As they lost 4-1, Thomas Frank’s Tottenham never seemed to get the message.

Pep needs to be better

Arsenal’s perfect weekend had begun the day before, of course. Liverpool collapsed at home to Nottingham Forest and then City lost a tight game at Newcastle.

That was City’s fourth Premier League defeat of the campaign and Pep Guardiola’s frustrations were clear on a day when his team missed big chances and saw some big decisions go against them.

None of that excused the City manager’s behaviour at the end of the game, however.

His exchange with Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes was noticeable enough but that he then felt able to pull away a TV cameraman’s headset and scream into his ear speaks to a sense of entitlement that is unacceptable and has been allowed to foster by the authorities in this country.

Guardiola should be charged by the FA for his conduct and warned of his responsibilities. The great Catalan needs to be better than this.

Rooney not in my MOTD top five

City should certainly have had a penalty in that game and Wayne Rooney was spot-on in his analysis for Match of the Day.

Fabian Schar’s lunge at Phil Foden was late and reckless and the Swiss defender was actually air born as he made contact with the City player’s foot. How VAR didn’t intervene will remain a mystery and Rooney called it as he saw it.

But it was a rare moment of clarity and certainty for Rooney who continues to struggle in his role as MOTD’s star pundit.

The BBC are so determined that their big appointment should work that they have been putting occasional extra training into Rooney but, despite the excellence of his weekly podcast, the former England captain continues to look nervous and inhibited on a Saturday night.

Currently, Rooney would not make my list of top five MOTD pundits which goes: 1) Joe Hart, 2) Ashley Williams, 3) Danny Murphy, 4) Rob Green, 5) Alan Shearer.

Newcastle’s heart beat English

Newcastle’s win was a big one for them and proof of the resilience Eddie Howe has instilled in his squad during his years in the north-east.

They have had some poor results this season but are yet to back one defeat up with another. Indeed, on the last four occasions Newcastle have lost a game, they have won the next one.

There is an English heart beating at St James’ Park, too, with five of the club’s players having a decent case for going to next summer’s World Cup with their country.

We know about Thomas Tuchel’s fondness for Dan Burn and Anthony Gordon, who were both unavailable at the weekend. 

But what about full-backs Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall and wide player Harvey Barnes?

All three were excellent against City and Livramento and Hall will definitely be in Tuchel’s thoughts if they maintain form and fitness between now and the March friendlies. England are not blessed with a deep well at full-back, after all.

As for Barnes, he has played once for England in a friendly five years ago and as such has been asked about a switch to Scotland. Two of his grandparents are Scottish.

But to let a talented attacking player shift allegiance would be a mistake. He has three Champions League goals this season – the same as Marcus Rashford for Barcelona – and was his club’s second highest scorer last time round behind Alexsander Isak. 

Tuchel has said he has a group of more than forty players to think about between now and next summer. Barnes should be in and around that number and that’s before we even talk about another Newcastle player – the super-talented and criminally under-discussed Jacob Murphy.

Will Welbeck break a record?

One player who is on Tuchel’s radar for the future is Brighton’s Jack Hinshelwood and the 20-year-old scored the winner as his team came from behind to beat Brentford at the Amex.

Hinshelwood is definitely one for post-World Cup consideration while it’s hard to think what more Danny Welbeck needs to do if he is to return to the international fold for the first time since September 2018.

Welbeck’s equaliser was his seventh goal in his last eight games and he is fast becoming the obvious choice as back up striker to Harry Kane.

Due to turn 35 on Wednesday, Welbeck will have waited seven and a half years between caps if he is given a chance next March. That would be the longest gap in the modern era.

Frank Lampard Snr went slightly longer in the 1970s (seven years and 233 days), as did former Liverpool and Forest central defender Larry Lloyd (seven years and 360 days) around the same time.

Meanwhile, the longest gap ever was the 11 years and 49 days Liverpool winger Ian Callaghan went between playing against France in July 1966 and then against Switzerland in September 1977.

Time for a change

Much was made on TV of the delay between Brentford’s taking – and missing – of a late penalty against Brighton. There certainly is too much gamesmanship and general messing about that occurs in such instances. It’s unfair on the taker.

Equally, there needs to be a clampdown on all the pushing and shoving that precedes corner kicks.

Under current law, a player can be booked for assaulting an opponent when the ball is dead but cannot be penalised by the awarding of a free-kick or penalty until it’s actually in flight.

That feels wrong and is a law that should be up for review. It would cut out all the nonsense at a stroke.

Chelsea handed some luck

Should Burnley have had a penalty against Chelsea at Turf Moor?

When visiting goalkeeper Robert Sanchez rolled the ball a yard to Trevoh Chalobah at a goal kick, his reaction clearly told us he felt the ball was in play.

The fact that Chalobah didn’t realise before stopping it with his hand and then taking the restart himself is not really an excuse.

An accidental handball is still a handball. The score was 0-0 at the time and as such it was a big moment.

The long way back for West Ham

Nowhere was the shift to more direct football in the Premier League this season more evident than in West Ham’s draw at Bournemouth.

West Ham – whose fanbase demand flowing football – scored their second goal from a set piece while their opener was a three-touch move that covered the length of the field in about a second-and-a-half.

It began with a long punt from goalkeeper Alphonse Areola and ended up in the back of the net after a sublime chest control and finish by Callum Wilson. The technique from Wilson was superb and it gave West Ham a foothold they worked hard to hold on to.

By full-time the XG (expected goals) was 4-1 to Bournemouth and the shot count stood at 28-5. 

Another point for the Hammers was all that mattered, though, and they will present a stern obstacle for Liverpool at home next Sunday. Nuno Espirito Santo has made a difference.