Arne Slot Under Fire After Liverpool Collapse to Nottingham Forest
Liverpool’s dismal 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest at Anfield has sparked fury and disbelief among supporters. On Anfield Index’s Daily Red podcast, host Dave Hendrick dissected the shambolic performance and pointed squarely at Arne Slot. With Liverpool tumbling from last season’s title-winning heights, Hendrick’s assessment was brutally honest: “He needs to go.”
Forest Outplay Passive Liverpool
Nottingham Forest arrived at Anfield 19th in the Premier League. “They’re on their third manager of the season,” said Hendrick, adding, “He’s been there a month.” Yet Forest left Merseyside with three goals and three points. Hendrick described the match as “an abomination,” saying that after going behind, “Did you think for a second we were going to win the game? Even one second?”
The breakdown began early. Hendrick dismissed any optimism about Liverpool’s start: “Some people in a deluded haze tried to proclaim that the first half hour was really good. It wasn’t. It was decent. It was fine.” Liverpool failed to capitalise on possession and played in predictable patterns. “It was give the ball to Cody [Gakpo] and have him run at the fullback, then give the ball to Mo [Salah] and have him run at the fullback,” Hendrick said. “At no point will we try and get a £125m number nine [Alexander Isak] involved.”
Photo: IMAGO
Tactical Failings and Questionable Decisions
Liverpool’s defensive structure unravelled with almost comic ineptitude. Hendrick highlighted Ibrahima Konaté’s disastrous mistake: “This time he takes what might quite possibly be the worst touch you’ll ever see on a football pitch and gives away a corner from 18 yards from his own endline.”
As the match slipped away, Slot’s substitutions baffled Hendrick. “So now we’ve got a front four, two in midfield, and you’ve got a back four, two of whom are midfielders.” Hendrick criticised the logic of playing Ryan Gravenberch at centre-back and questioned the effectiveness of a 4-2-4 formation without control or creativity. “You’re weakening your midfield and your defence and you still can’t get the ball to your attack.”
A Pattern of Poor Performances
Hendrick didn’t see the Forest loss as an isolated incident. “We won the league because of what we did in 2024. But in 2025, we have not been good.” He listed a string of disappointing performances throughout the year, saying Liverpool “won the league playing badly” and that the issues were “very prevalent last season.”
Hendrick recalled that even in the 2024/25 title-winning campaign, “Our inability to build through the middle because somebody can’t pass the ball” was masked by the brilliance of key individuals like Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, and Konaté. “This season, Ibu has been awful. Alli has been injured. And Virgil started the season incredibly and has just been dragged down by the dross around him.”
Liverpool now sit 11th in the Premier League table and 11 points behind league-leaders Arsenal.
Calls for Change
Despite winning the league just months ago, he dismissed any notion that Liverpool fans should accept mediocrity. “If you’re accepting finishing fourth or fifth with this club… you should be calling for the manager to go.” Hendrick wasn’t swayed by Slot’s admission of responsibility after the match. “He’s fixed nothing,” he said. “And yet he finally took some of the blame after the game. Whoopy do.”
