How can Arne Slot stop the rot?

Change the shape? Drop Mo Salah? Stick or twist with Isak?

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard did not want to use the word “crisis” to describe the Reds’ current malaise.

But with each passing game, and most importantly, with each passing performance, Liverpool are slipping more and more towards crisis territory.

Credit: Instagram - @liverpoolfc

One win in the Premier League really could turn any club’s fortunes — Liverpool included. The table is so congested that only three points separate the Reds, down in 12th, to fourth-place Aston Villa. The same can be said, too, of the 36-team Champions League standings. One positive result can change so much.

The issue for Liverpool, is that it is now nine defeats out of 12 games across all competitions. That is their worst run since the 1953-54 season, according to Opta.

Wednesday night at Anfield marked a new nadir. Liverpool went down 4-1 to PSV — that’s PSV, not PSG — and after Saturday’s home capitulation to Nottingham Forest, the pressure is now firmly on Arne Slot.

The Dutchman may not yet be facing the axe from the club’s hierarchy, but it became clear against PSV that sections, and possibly large sections, of the Anfield faithful have started to turn.

Slot said Liverpool must now “face where we’re at” and “fight”.

But he must also start to make some changes, or he will inevitably have to be changed himself.

Here are three changes Slot could make to help Liverpool stop the rot.

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CHANGE THE SYSTEM

While sticking to a philosophy and a style of play should be lauded, in most instances, that does not mean a formation should be rigidly stuck to.

A style of play should not be wholly reliant on one system, or a variation of it. Slot plays a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 hybrid, but right now, it has become easy to play against, at least when it comes to opposition teams launching surging counter-attacks that scythe through Liverpool’s structure with ease.

So, how about a change in approach?