The fans fear that Slot has already somehow dismantled the mentality monsters identity established by Klopp, and that the more influence he has on the team the worse they perform.
I struggle to criticize the players too much this season because of the unquantifiable impact of the Jota tragedy, because I honestly don't really know where the line is. The players clearly don't know either, and that inevitably affects how they push themselves and each other. They won't use it as an excuse, and rightly so, but at the same time they can't deny the big drop in focus, intensity, mindset and overall performance, especially against bottom half teams. There have been too many unexplainable perfromances and results.
I think the "lack of leadership" narrative from pundits is too simplistic and lazy, there are still several international captains in this squad. The one player would could speak up more about it because he has left the club in the summer is Kelleher : "I don’t think this season is even important from a football aspect for them to be honest. It’s more about them personally and mentally."
So that being said, the only thing I feel comfortable judging properly is the tactical side. And the tactics have only exacerbated the issue IMHO
The early season approach led to overly open, chaotic games, and it was flagged in the very 1st match by Carra who basically said "sorry boss but that makes me really worried going forward". Slot then had to abandon the approach mid season and go to the complete opposite. A deeper line, slow AF buildup, just grinding out results with set pieces, beyond boring sideways passing with no penetration, just to get some of the control back. That's a massive shift in identity for a team that has historically thrived on intensity and pressing...
He has this obsession about Enrique's PSG and wanted to build the squad like that so he can play the same way, but this is definitely not a farmer's league and on top of that it has gotten more physical and more set piece oriented in the meantime. To be fair, it has worked rather well in the CL up until they met PSG (who could once again flex their influence and postpone their league title decider in order to be 100% fresh for this CL tie).
And he'll probably try and go for it again next season after he tweaks the squad, but things could get a bit toxic if it doesn't start well, because everyone by now has concluded that he is completely out of his depth. He did win the league with an ultimately flawed squad, a 100% Klopp squad, but a squad with a clear identity that was built for the league. And once Klopp's intensity and mentality wore off in the 2nd part of that season they had to really grind out results to get it over the line.
Overall I think the board has dubbed this a freak season overall and will give Slot a chance to finish the rebuild. Which I can understand after seeing Isak break his leg, Bradley shatter his knee, Leoni do his ACL, Ekitike rupture his Achilles, Endo tearing his ligament and Frimpon's paperthin hamstring, with the usual absentees in Gomes and Alisson.
I think it's safe to call this a season of grief instead. The next one is probably the real transition season. I feel it's likelier that Slot leaves after his contract runs out next season, and wouldn't be surprised if Hughes and Edwards follow suit.
