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Liverpool might be in a tricky spell at the moment, but Arne Slot remains the best man for the job. Improvement is required, clearly, but there are mitigations.
In the summer, Liverpool made wholesale changes to its roster. It was always going to take time for so many alterations to bed in, but that has only been exacerbated by various injuries and Alexander Isak's sheer lack of match fitness.
Though the Reds might be in the bottom half of the Premier League table as things stand, they are also only two points off the Champions League spots. The title might be out of the question, but the top four or five shouldn't be, and Liverpool should be playing in Europe next season.
The Liverpool players should take responsibility and start winning their individual battles, Virgil van Dijk said this weekend, and it won't take that much for things to dramatically improve.
"There's no way that Slot should be in danger or losing his job," Gary Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast.
"I've heard murmurs; you go on social media and all that nonsense, but forget that.
"Some Liverpool fans will say, 'Don't talk about my football club like that', but come on, let's have some sense here. This is a really good manager, who's a brilliant front man for the club as well in the way he handles himself. He's got real class."
In any case, there are very few options out there that could replace Slot. Andoni Iraola has done an excellent job at Bournemouth but the Cherries are a very different club — much smaller, not in Europe, and with a completely different level of player and expectation.
Julian Nagelsmann is in a World Cup year with Germany, Xabi Alonso has only just taken the Real Madrid post, Steven Gerrard has shown no evidence so far of being an elite manager at senior level, and there isn't really anyone else.
Anyone taking the knee-jerk stance that Slot might not be the right man should be tasked with picking out someone who is.
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"It is my responsibility," Slot insisted on Saturday. "If we win or lose, it is my responsibility. But what I also see is the team — and, by the way, our fans as well — stay until the end, support the team until the end, and the players keep on trying until the end.
"What I also saw today, but it wasn't at City — and at City we are not the only team that struggles in the first half — and in every other game we've played, we've been the dominant team and we were able to create chances."
Liverpool.com says: Slot needs to go back to basics. At the moment, Liverpool is shipping too many goals and is on course to concede a staggering 63 in the Premier League at its current rate. Start there, and the rest will fall into place.
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