Arne Slot has another requirement this season that's just as important as securing Champions League

Arne Slot needs to finish inside the Champions League places this season, but the Liverpool boss doesn't just need results to improve before the campaign concludes

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.(Image: BSR Agency/Getty Images)

For every step forward this season, it has felt like Liverpool has swiftly found a way of falling back. And before the season ends, there is a clear need to offer some hope that things will sustainably improve in the future.

In the FA Cup, Liverpool got pretty much as tough a draw as it could have: Manchester City away. Even if it progresses past Galatasaray next week, it will almost certainly face a rematch with PSG.

It is entirely feasible that those games prove the extent of the Reds' runs in cup competitions this season, with the Premier League title long gone too. Losing to Manchester City and PSG, though, if that is to be the case, can happen in any campaign.

Getting back into the Champions League next season would be viewed as a minimum requirement, but there is another important factor at play too.

In addition to needing sufficient results to get over the line and finish ahead of at least one of Chelsea, Aston Villa and Manchester United, the performances that Liverpool puts in will heavily influence the mood.

If Liverpool ends the season without silverware and limps into the Champions League places, that will inspire much less confidence that next year can go differently than if it manages to build momentum.

Arne Slot during a Liverpool press conference.(Image: Liverpool FC // YouTube)

Scoring some goals and creating a significant amount more excitement than has been evident in recent months, while getting enough wins on the board to finish at least fifth, would then set up the summer in the best way possible from here.

In that scenario, Liverpool would enter pre-season with something to build on. There would be more of an argument to be made that with a couple of signings — primarily some pace in wide areas — it could feasibly reach last season's heights again.

Under Jurgen Klopp, there were poor seasons, but they were always followed up by better years — helped by a strong end to one campaign that sets up the next.

"What I want is that every single player gets the maximum out of every single training session and game we are playing from now until the end of the season," Arne Slot said on Friday.

"That is the aim for me, and that should be the aim for the players. I’m 100 per cent sure that is the aim for the players, because that’s the only way to get the maximum out of what is there, what is in it for us."

Fail to convince in the next few weeks, though, and Liverpool would enter the summer with discussion about Slot's position rife and question marks over exactly what level it might hit when the new season kicks off. The data and the numbers are important, but so too are the vibes.

There is plenty at stake for Liverpool across the course of the final weeks of the season, with qualifying for the Champions League having a major economic impact, in addition to the Reds wanting to secure a place in the prestigious tournament.

More than that, though, Slot's side needs to start to set itself up in the best way possible to get properly back on track next time around. That all starts with the final games of this term.