Arne Slot, it’s TIME for Liverpool’s bombshell change

It's time for Liverpool's bombshell change, Arne Slot. There's simply no escaping it now.

Liverpool suffered a sixth defeat in seven Premier League games on Saturday afternoon. Honestly, this was the worst of the lot.

The Reds were simply outplayed by Nottingham Forest, who created better chances, controlled larger periods of the game, and limited Liverpool massively in the second half. Sean Dyche's gameplan was essentially perfect.

And that's why this was even worse than 'six defeats from seven'. Such a run should see some improvement, even if the luck disappears. Instead, we're witnessing even more regression from Liverpool who didn't look like a top-half Premier League team.

They arguably didn't look like a Premier League team, given Forest went into this one at Anfield in 19th place. What defence is there for such a performance? It just simply wasn't anywhere near good enough.

No matter how you look at it, even if you want to bring misfortune into the equation, the team in 19th just rocked up to Anfield and had 15 shots. Seven of those went on target. Liverpool managed four shots on target across the 90.

And so it really couldn't be any more clear: change is needed.

Arne Slot, it's time for a change

It's time for change but that change does not and shouldn't be sacking Arne Slot. He won the Premier League last season and it's still only three months into this campaign.

Clearly, it's unlikely that Liverpool will retain the title but that's the case no matter what happens. No coach is coming into this and turning the season around to that degree.

But Liverpool absolutely need to move away from the 4-2-3-1 setup that Slot has stuck with since taking over. That just needs to happen at this stage because the team is incapable of controlling games right now, nor do they create enough chances.

There is essentially no benefit to sticking with it.

That, however, necessitates some bombshell decisions as this squad was built around that system. Liverpool won't be able to change and retain everyone in their preferred roles - that's impossible.

But a different midfield shape must come. Or a different defensive line. Or a change in attack. Something has to happen and if that means world-class players sit on the bench, so be it.

We're officially at the stage where it would be insane to continue as things are and no previous manager has stuck so rigidly to a system of play when results were this poor. A difficult period in 2018 saw Jurgen Klopp switch from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1. He moved to a back three in 2016/17 when things were slipping away.

Brendan Rodgers' remarkable diamond formation was built out of necessity rather than plan, too. The time has come to find something similar (if not identical) in an attempt to get back on track.

The players are good enough. There's no question about that. The current way of playing, however, does not suit them and virtually no one is actually showing their true ability.

Difficult decisions and massive change must follow. It's the only way forward.