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Former Liverpool midfielder Bolo Zenden believes Arne Slot's credentials as a Premier League champion should earn him the patience needed to reverse fortunes at Anfield.
Following a flying start that saw the Reds win their opening six fixtures of the campaign, they have endured a challenging period, suffering nine defeats in their last 17 outings across all competitions. This slump has prompted considerable scrutiny over whether Slot is the right man for the Anfield hot seat.
The Dutchman has, however, quietened some of those concerns by guiding his team through five matches without defeat, culminating in an encouraging week that saw them edge past Inter 1-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday evening in Milan, followed by another clean sheet in Saturday's 2-0 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion at Anfield.
Zenden, who turned out 47 times during his two-year spell at Liverpool between 2006-2008, insists Slot warrants greater time to restore the champions' standing, particularly given it was his management that delivered their 20th league title just months earlier.
"What you do as a club is that you look at a process," Zenden told Bet Victor. "As long as the club can see there's certain progress within the squad, you can maybe give someone more time if the football is still good but the results are not. Arne Slot deserves respect.
"If there's a moment in time where you're not playing a certain way, imagine that maybe the situation within the dressing room is so poor, then you go a certain way where the club has to make a decision.
"At the same time, I think it was Steven Gerrard who said when it gets tough we stick together at Liverpool and of course Slot has done an amazing job last season with how they played and what they've won.
"With everything that they've done you would suggest that he's capable of turning things around again.
"But the only thing that keeps you in the job are results. It's important to get things back on track the sooner the better. The whole situation with Salah is obviously not helping on top of all the other stuff that is already going on."
Zenden continued: "Is it easy to understand? No. But at the same time, are there explanations? Of course. A lot of new players have come in. We all know that new players need time to settle.
"The automatisms within the team change. Some players have left too. Trent Alexander-Arnold, for example. He had a very good link up play with Mohamed Salah in front of him. That has changed.
"Then there are the results that have not been going their way. That's another factor. Teams come and play Liverpool and think they have something to gain.
"Last year, that wasn't the case. I don't think that Liverpool have always been playing badly but the results have obviously been bad.
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"Sometimes you look at a match where Liverpool are dominating two-thirds of the game, they create chances but they don't put them away, and then all of a sudden they get two goals against them. The score says two nil for the opposition.
"Of course that's a headline and understandably so but that doesn't always tell the whole story.
"I've seen a few games where they played really well and had their chances but they didn't put it away so then the problem is that when you get the chance and you have to take the chance. After that it's always easier to play.
"And if you don't, it gets worse. So there's a lot of things that you can actually add on why things are not going the way they should be."
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