Liverpool 1-1 Sunderland: Arne Slot excuse expires as Reds' "expensively assembled strangers" slip up again

Written by David Lynch, Liverpool expert:

Judging by Liverpool's last two performances, Arne Slot had plotted a route out of a dismal recent run that involves boring, low-event games in which his side's quality eventually tells.

But, while that might have worked against a wretched West Ham United on Sunday, Sunderland were proof that so much more is often needed in the Premier League.

As they have for much of this season, Regis Le Bris's men showed a combination of hunger and quality to earn a deserved draw at Anfield.

And they looked remarkably organised for a side that was largely thrown together over the course of a big summer preparing them for the Premier League.

That is arguably the most damning aspect for Slot, who can surely no longer use this summer's spending as an excuse for his team's woeful form.

Liverpool continue to look like a team of expensively assembled strangers, who are no closer to clicking now than they were during a poor start to the campaign.

Liverpool 1-1 Sunderland: Arne Slot concerns "far from knee-jerk"

© Sports Mole

Take, for example, their inability to get the best out of either Alexander Isak or Florian Wirtz, or the drop-off in performance of stalwarts such as Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah.

The question now is how much longer can this go on before the man above Slot - sporting director Richard Hughes - feels prompted to act.

The fact is, Liverpool were far less impressive during the second half of last season than they had been in effectively clinching the title in the first.

As such, it is far from knee-jerk to suggest that there might be concerns over what Slot is producing.

And if that were not the case, then a manager who is out of contract in just over 18 months time would surely have already been tied down.

In the short term, the Reds and their head coach will limp on to Leeds, hoping in vain that a long overdue improvement arrives then.