Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has suggested that "a few frustrating defeats" for Liverpool could have an impact on the futures of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The Reds made a bight start to life under new head coach Arne Slot and won each of their first three Premier League games in August by an aggregate score of 7-0.
However, Slot suffered his first defeat as Liverpool boss at Anfield last weekend when his side were surprisingly beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest, courtesy of a second-half strike from Callum Hudson-Odoi.
McInerney has acknowledged that it is still "early days" in the Slot era at Liverpool and the Dutchman will need time to implement his 'Guardiola-heavy' possession-based philosophy at Anfield - a contrast to the heavy-metal football played under legendary predecessor Jurgen Klopp.
"It's early days for Arne Slot and they've had a pretty decent start," McInerney exclusively told Sports Mole. "I feel the issues that Liverpool faced [against Forest] aren't exactly new from what I can tell from Liverpool fans. They're very similar to last season [and] they had no solution to Forest massively conjecting the centre of the pitch and sitting deep.
Liverpool still a 'serious' title threat despite 'frustrating' Forest loss
"I think Slot wants to play a more possession-based game than Klopp did - Klopp obviously moved that way a little bit compared to his early years at Liverpool - but Slot is going a lot more [Pep] Guardiola heavy. I think he's been very open about that. He's a big admirer of that kind of football.
"Obviously the downside of that football is that there are a billion templates of how to defend against that football, so it wasn't exactly new information for Forest to defend against this kind of style.
"They'll have to improve a little bit. It was frustrating for them... I feel if you're playing a new style which is possession-based, it's very hard to get that right. It requires a lot of intricacies, it requires rhythm, consistency, match practice, and is easier to defend against if the team is not fully versed in it."
McInerney still believes that Liverpool will pose a 'serious' title threat to reigning Premier League champions Man City, adding: "It's going to be interesting to see how [Slot] reacts to it. Obviously hugely frustrating for Liverpool that defeat. I still take them very seriously (in the title race). It's going to be interesting for me to see how they get on throughout the season."
While Slot will be keen to see on-field performances improve, there are also off-field matters to be discussed at Liverpool regarding the futures of key trio Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold, who have all entered the final year of their contracts.
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Salah, Van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold uncertainty 'a big issue' for Liverpool
All three players were integral to Liverpool's success under former boss Klopp, winning a total of eight trophies including the 2018-19 Champions League and 2019-20 Premier League title.
Salah, who has been heavily linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League as well as European giants Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, seemingly dropped a huge hint over his future at the beginning of this month when he claimed that the 2024-25 season would be his "last" in a Liverpool shirt.
Liverpool captain Van Dijk has also been linked with Middle Eastern clubs, while Alexander-Arnold is reportedly a primary target for Spanish giants Real Madrid.
McInerney feels that the uncertainty over the future of all three players is currently the 'biggest issue' for Liverpool at present, as opposed to losing "the odd game" to teams like Forest in the Premier League.
However should Liverpool's form decline under new boss Slot in the coming months, McInerney has questioned whether that could see Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold reassess their options and potentially decide to seek pastures new next year.
"I think the bigger issues for [Liverpool] are the contract situations," said McInerney. "There's so many spinning plates that it could all compression down at any moment for them.
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Should Liverpool fans fear losing Salah, Van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold?
"The fear for me, if I were a Liverpool fan, would be...it's fine to lose the odd game here and there, but I'd be wondering what the players think if that happens, because when you have a new manager, you're naturally hesitant.
"You're naturally wondering how his ideas are going to work, and the temptation could be to feel like: 'Well he's not Jurgen Klopp.' No one's going to be. It's very hard [for Slot] to be the guy who follows the legend. Obviously Klopp is loved there because of what he did for Liverpool over the past decade or so.
"So the fear (for Liverpool fans) must be that these players must be thinking: 'We'll get to January and see how we feel then.' When you've got Salah, Van Dijk and Trent in the last season of their contracts... to me, that would be the bigger fear, where a few frustrating defeats could feed into indecisiveness around their futures.
"If this was Klopp, I don't think they'd be worried, but because it's a new manager - and [although] he looks really good, seems like a really nice guy and he's got a good pedigree - they could be thinking: 'Well it was [Klopp's] time [to go], maybe it's our time.' That to me is where my head would be as Liverpool fan.
"I'd be more worried about what it says for the rest of the season, as opposed to the performance (against Forest). I don't think it was an embarrassing defeat losing to Forest. Man City have had tough games against Forest before, so I understand that it's never going to be easy, but it's early days for them on the pitch."
Liverpool will endeavour to return to winning ways when they face Italian giants AC Milan at San Siro in the opening Champions League game of the 2024-25 season on Tuesday night, before welcoming Bournemouth to Anfield for their next Premier League fixture on Saturday.
Oliver Thomas
