It feels like déjà vu at Anfield. A team crowned champions amid fanfare and self-congratulation now finds itself unravelling before our eyes. Back in 2020 Roy Keane called Klopp’s team “bad champions” for their limp title defence, now in 2025 Slots team look like emulating them. The parallels are impossible to ignore; arrogance creeping in, performances falling flat, and a manager showing flashes of the same frustration that preceded their collapse last time.
When Liverpool won the title under Jurgen Klopp, they were irresistible — full of energy, cohesion and belief. But barely months later, they fell apart. Klopp, normally the embodiment of charisma, bristled at any criticism, deflected questions, and watched his players wilt under pressure. What followed was one of the weakest title defences in Premier League history.
Fast forward to 2025, and history looks to be repeating itself. Under Arne Slot, Liverpool are not just losing games — they’re losing their identity. Four consecutive league defeats have left them adrift in seventh, their swagger replaced by fragility. The defending champions are, once again, imploding.
And yet, it’s not just the results that grate — it’s the attitude. For all their talk of humility and togetherness, Liverpool often carry themselves with an air of entitlement. They bracket themselves alongside Manchester City, but their sustained success doesn’t come close. City are a dynasty; Liverpool were a moment. As Roy Keane put it in when he described Van Dijk as arrogant, “they need to remember who they are, one title in thirty years.” Make that two in thirty-five. When they win, they’re unbearable. When they lose, they’re graceless — on and off the pitch.
Slot’s side have been flying by the seat of their pants all season. The cracks that were papered over by early results are now gaping chasms. Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah — once symbols of leadership — look spent, their body language a cause for concern. The pressing intensity has gone, the defensive structure has collapsed, and new signings like Wirtz, Isak, and Kerkez have struggled to adapt.
And its not going to get any easier. The next few weeks could define their season. A run of league fixtures against Aston Villa, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest, offers little respite. Lose a couple of those, and Liverpool’s title defence could be over before December.
The irony is that Liverpool’s problems are almost entirely of their own making. Slot began the season with a strengthened well-drilled, battle-tested side and – like Klopp in 2020 – appears to have overcomplicated things. Tactical tinkering, unnecessary changes, and a refusal to play to his squad’s strengths have turned a cohesive unit into a dysfunctional mess. The team that once prided itself on resilience now looks brittle, the manager’s touchline demeanour echoing Klopp’s late-era frustration.
The wider question is whether Liverpool ever truly learned from their last collapse. Back then, the excuse was fatigue, injuries, and bad luck. This time, it’s new players need time – a rather feeble excuse for a side that’s spent just under half a billion pounds in the summer.
If Liverpool’s decline continues, they may soon earn an unwanted title: the worst champions since… themselves.
