Arne Slot is not surprised there is talk of him losing his job as Liverpool’s awful run continues, but says he is not worried about that prospect.
The Reds were beaten 4-1 by PSV at Anfield on Wednesday night in the Champions League, suffering their ninth defeat in 12 outings.
That run of form is their worst since 1953-54 and comes as a huge shock after winning the Premier League last season and investing heavily in the transfer market over the summer.
The season can still be recovered, with the Reds 12th in the Premier League and 13th in the Champions League table, but still very much in touching distance of the upper echelons of both.
However, things need to turn around and fast, with Slot well aware that Liverpool’s form has called his future into question.
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Asked if he feels this is fair, so soon after winning the Premier League, he said: ‘I don’t think it’s important if it’s fair or not.
‘It’s normal and I understand if any manager around the world loses football games, let alone as many as we’ve lost, it’s quite normal that people have an opinion about that, and if it’s fair or not, that’s for other people to judge.
‘But that it’s normal if you lose so many times, people will start talking about that.’
It is not just the defeats, but the manner of them that is piling the pressure on Slot as the 4-1 loss to the Dutch side followed a 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.
Asked if he is worried about his job, he said: ‘No I’m not worried, what I mean by that is that my focus is on a lot of things other than worrying about my own position.
‘I try to analyse try to help the players as much as I can and it’s obvious that I don’t do it the way I did that last season. When you talk about individual errors I think that’s also something that comes from a team effort.
‘I need to do better and that’s what I’m trying to do every single day, to improve the team and that is where my main focus is.’
The Dutchman felt his team showed good fight after going behind just six minutes into the contest, with Dominik Szoboszlai equalising just 10 minutes later.
However, he does feel the confidence of his players has been eroded, which became obvious as PSV scored three in the second half.
‘I think it’s a shock for everyone. For the players, the journalists over here, for me, for everyone this is a shock if you look at the quality we have,’ he said of the run of bad form.
‘Is it a lack of confidence? I didn’t see that in the first half. Of course it’s hard if you concede straight after losing 3-0 but I saw the mentality that these players have shown so many time since I’ve been here. Created chances, kept them back. After another setback after going 2-1 I also saw us creating chances.
‘But at the end of the game I saw it affected maybe one or two players that we were 3-1, 4-1 down.’
Slot insists he has the support and trust of the Liverpool hierarchy, saying they talk regularly, although joked that the next conversation could be different.
‘We talk a lot. If we are winning last season and if we are losing,’ said the manager. ‘They are helpful to me, to the team.
‘We have those conversations but they don’t call me every single minute of the day to tell me they still trust me. We have normal conversations and in those conversations I feel the trust.
‘But I haven’t spoken to them after this game yet, so let’s see.’