It’s the 23rd of November, 2014. Goals from Dwight Gayle, Joe Ledley and Mile Jedinak have consigned Brendan Rodgers Liverpool to a 3-1 defeat against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Just six months earlier, a 3-3 draw on this very ground had been the final nail in the coffin of Liverpool’s title challenge, after it had fallen apart a week earlier against Chelsea at Anfield, prolonging the club’s agonising wait for a first top-flight title since 1990.

Having come so close the previous season, and despite the loss of talismanic striker Luis Suarez, this was supposed to be a glorious campaign for the Reds. But as they left the field in South London, having lost six of their twelve games that season and sitting 12th in the Premier League table, the realisation set in that this was not going to be the year fans had hoped for.

It’s the 22nd of November, 2025. Goals from Murillo, Nicolo Savona and Morgan Gibbs-White have consigned Arne Slot’s Liverpool to a 3-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest at Anfield. Just six months earlier, a 5-1 win over Spurs on this very ground had seen the Reds lift their 20th top-flight title, five years after their long drought had ended under Jurgen Klopp.

Having tasted glory the previous season, and armed with some of the most exciting players in Europe after a summer spending spree, this was supposed to be a glorious campaign for the Reds. But as they trudged off the pitch at Anfield, having lost six of their twelve games this season and sitting 11th in the Premier League table, the realisation set in that this is not going to be the year fans had hoped for.

I’m being slightly flippant. It’s not a one-for-one comparison, obviously. Whereas in 2014 the club signed Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli to bolster the front line, this summer it was Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak – it will be a hell of a story if the latter two have Liverpool careers as poor as the former. But the similarity in feeling between the two campaigns is growing by the week. There is no clear identity to the team, no clear sense (from a distance, at least) of what the manager wants his players to do, and individual poor performances are compounding the lack of confidence in the group.

So what happens from here? Doubtless the online discourse of “Slot Out” has reached fever pitch on social media already. But those who cry for immediate action better be ready to provide an answer for who they want as a replacement (though thinking about it for a second, I’m sure 99% will be looking lovingly at pictures of Klopp). Knee-jerk decisions to sack a manager – especially one who literally delivered a league title last season – rarely work out. However, at the same time, this run of form coupled with the lack of much recent evidence that it can be turned around suggests that it won’t be long before even the most ardent of Slot supporters concludes that the Dutchman’s time on Merseyside is up.

There have been mitigating circumstances in Slot’s favour. He was without one of the best goalkeepers in the world for the eight games preceding the Forest debacle. Neither of his right backs seem able to stay fit for longer than 30 minutes. It’s only recently that Alexis Mac Allister has looked anywhere near fit and capable of playing to the levels he has previously shown. And since about March, Mo Salah has looked a shadow of the player who firmly established himself as one of the greatest to ever pull on the shirt.

Furthermore, there was the tragic death of Diogo Jota in the summer, and one need only listen to Andy Robertson speak after Scotland’s World Cup qualifying win over Denmark to see how really and truly that is still affecting the players every day.

But there have been choices by Slot which have failed to make any of this easier. Joe Gomez has been an unused substitute in eight of Liverpool’s twelve league games, totalling 43 minutes of action, while Ibrahima Konate has, more often than not, frankly been atrocious. Gomez, also a functional if unspectacular option at right back, has been overlooked in favour of Dominik Szoboszlai for that role during the fitness issues suffered by Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley. The Hungarian Cafu has done an admirable job for a midfielder playing out of position, but moving such an important cog out of the midfield has been to the detriment of the team.

One of Slot’s biggest plus points last season was his ability to change the flow of games at half time, with tactical tweaks and substitutions, he was able to solve problems that opposition teams had posed for Liverpool. This season, his response to going behind seems always to be ‘move Gravenberch to centre back and throw on every attacker I can possibly find, hope it works’. For a few games it did, Federico Chiesa against Bournemouth, Rio Ngumoha against Newcastle, Mo Salah’s late penalty at Burnley. But it was quickly sussed out and yet, against Forest, Gravenberch dropped back as Chiesa, Ngumoha and Ekitike were brought on into a front five that failed to even give the visitors a scare.

There are those who argue that the squad is unbalanced and this is a recruitment issue more than one borne of the manager. There is some truth to that argument. For a club who pride themselves on their planning, it seems odd that so many players were bought this summer without seemingly a clear idea of how they would fit into the team. The manager likes full backs who are progressive passers, yet the club bought Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, both of whom are at their best as ball carriers. We’re told that Florian Wirtz signed for the club in part because he was so sold on the plan Slot presented to him, but the boss has yet to figure out a way to fit both him and Szoboszlai into a functioning midfield. But equally, it’s on the manager to get his team to perform to the strengths of the players he has, and for so much of this season that simply hasn’t been the case.

The most frustrating part of it all is that there have been glimpses of things working. And recent ones. They fought and clawed to beat Aston Villa and put in their most fluent performance of the season against Real Madrid. For the first half hour against Forest they looked the better side, could easily and deservedly have gone in front. But the moment anything goes wrong for these Reds, Arne’s Reds, their heads collectively fall off and they dig deeper and deeper into the abyss.

We can argue all day about the offside decision for Forest’s first goal. Personally, I don’t think Dan Ndoye was impeding Alisson’s ability to make a save, just as I don’t think Andy Robertson impeded Gianluigi Donnarumma’s ability to make a save in the City game, just as I don’t think Igor Jesus should have seen his effort in the first half ruled out for handball. But heads fell off on the pitch and in the stands and when that happens game after game, you find yourself in 11th place after 12 games.

Something needs to change, and it needs to change fast. For now, I still believe those changes can be found internally, that this manager and these players can find a way to become the team we all expected them to be. Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool finished 6th in the 2014/15 season, signing off with a 6-1 defeat against Stoke and ending on 62 points. Unless that change happens soon, I’m not sure Slot will get to see how his season stacks up against it.