Slot must drop Liverpool “superstar” who’s been worse than Konate & Wirtz

It was very much smooth sailing for Liverpool when Arne Slot replaced Jurgen Klopp in the dugout. Overlooked by critics, the Reds dominantly won the Premier League despite minimal transfer investment.

Now, the defending champions have spent liberally across the summer but have lost their finely-woven fluency, lacking control and coherence across the opening weeks of the season.

The winning, never-quit mentality is still intact, but that alone will not carry the Anfield side through the campaign and to glory. Back-to-back defeats within the past week make a firm comment on that.

Tactically imbalanced and struggling through a bedding-in period, Liverpool have it all to do, with Slot dealing with a number of underperforming stars right now.

Liverpool’s biggest strugglers this season

Where to start if not with Florian Wirtz? The German playmaker joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen for £116m this summer, billed as a world-class talent with unrivalled game-changing quality.

But, since playing a neat assist for Hugo Ekitike (who is certainly not an underperformer), Wirtz has blanked across nine fixtures in all competitions, with his performances leaving so much to be desired.

There is hope and expectation that the 22-year-old will hit his stride soon, but there may be more consternation over the form and future of Ibrahima Konate, who is out of contract at the end of the year, and with Real Madrid lurking, that’s not a good sign.

So far, the French centre-back’s campaign has been littered with mistakes. With Giovanni Leoni sidelined for the long term, this is ominous, with the durability of Liverpool’s starting defensive partnership essential to the success of the team.

Mohamed Salah has also endured a quiet start to the season, and he has received criticism for his toils. However, there’s another Redman who has struggled to get going so far, and he is quietly one of the most important cogs in the Slot machine.

Liverpool’s quiet underperformer

Alexis Mac Allister has been a revelation since joining Liverpool from Brighton & Hove Albion for £35m in 2023. The Argentine World Cup winner has played influential and contrasting midfield roles across his two years on Merseyside, and has been hailed as a “superstar” by pundit Joe Cole for his efforts.

But there’s no denying that he hasn’t been right since the off-season. The 26-year-old star has lacked his energy and incisiveness, his hunger to win the ball back and progress play into the final third.

Given the importance of his form in the middle of the park, making everything tick for the Reds, it’s not outrageous to suggest that Mac Allister has been one of Liverpool’s worst performers this season, rarely offering any significant positivity.

Even Wirtz and Konate have enjoyed flashes of promise this term, but Mac Allister has yet to get going at all; he’s not protecting the defence, and neither is he carving out chances with slick passing.

Wirtz, after all, has created 21 chances across all competitions for Liverpool, and no Premier League player has created more since the summer. Clearly, there is a world-class player in there, and he will bloom before long.

It might even be that Slot needs to take his trusted lieutenant out of the firing line, with Curtis Jones producing an impressive, industrious performance in Istanbul.

In any case, there is plenty for Slot to sort out at Liverpool right now, and the changes need to happen sooner rather than later.