Liverpool's meek night in Paris has left Slot with nowhere to hide
If you watched Liverpool at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night and thought this team looked like reigning Premier League champions, I would love to know what game you were watching. Arne Slot set his side up to survive a PSG onslaught and instead got out-passed, out-run and out-thought by a team that has figured out exactly how to beat them.
A 2-0 loss in the first leg of a Champions League quarter-final is not a catastrophe on paper. Plenty of ties have swung back on an Anfield night. The problem is the performance, not the scoreline. Liverpool did not register a single shot on target. Mohamed Salah started on the bench. The plan appeared to be "hope nothing bad happens", and a lot of bad things happened anyway.
This could be the moment
Slot's situation at Liverpool is more delicate than a lot of neutrals realise. Reports before the PSG tie suggested that FSG's priority this season is Champions League qualification, and that the hierarchy has accepted they may have to move on from Slot in the summer if the mood around the club continues to turn. After what happened in Paris, that conversation will not get any quieter.
It wouldn't be surprising if the second leg at Anfield turns into a referendum on his future. Beat PSG and claw the tie back, and Slot buys himself a lot of goodwill. Lose meekly again, and the "dressing room has checked out" chatter will only grow louder.
The Salah question
Leaving Salah out in a must-not-lose-heavily Champions League night is the kind of decision that needs to be justified by a result. It wasn't. Whatever the plan behind it, benching your most reliable match winner in a tie you cannot afford to let get away is a big call, and it is going to follow Slot around this week whether he likes it or not.
I keep coming back to the same thought. Liverpool spent big last summer, sit fifth in the Premier League, and just got bossed for 90 minutes by a PSG team that did not have to hit top gear. Something has to change at Anfield. The next seven days will probably decide whether the change is tactical or something much bigger.
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