Arne Slot's 'same old story' is slowly unfolding into nightmare Liverpool scenario

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In fact, to quote Slot himself at Molineux on Tuesday night, it has become "the same old story" throughout this troubled and turbulent term.READ MORE: First Everton vs Liverpool Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium gets new dateREAD MORE: Virgil van Dijk makes 'high stakes' Liverpool transfer admission over Champions League failureLiverpool have only scored in the first half of 11 of their 29 games and they have registered more than one goal only four times. This term, the pair's total haul stands at a paltry 11 in the Premier League.Few could have predicted the nightmare season that was in store for Alexander Isak when he traded Tyneside for Merseyside on September 1 but the absence of the £125m striker has led to an over-reliance on Hugo Ekitike due to the struggles endured by Salah and Gakpo.In Slot's system, the wide forward is king but the Reds are getting a pauper's return right now and despite spending fortunes to bring in the likes of Isak, Ekitike and Florian Wirtz, more pace, power and goals are needed from whoever is signed this coming summer, that much is becoming clear.But to lay the blame at the door of club legend Salah or a confidence-shot Gakpo would be inaccurate and unfair and the head coach's insistence on Monday that slow starts are not down to his and the team's approach is fanciful.It is not the prerogative of other teams to allow Liverpool to play through them as they wish and Slot's protestations about the opposition's way of counteracting his strengths have come across as entitled at times.The constant referencing of low block and the endless focus on set-pieces have started to sound like white noise to many, especially since nine games have resulted in defeat.

However it is achieved, Liverpool need significantly more intensity and creativity in the early going of their games.Finishing games strongly has been just as big an issue for Liverpool, however, with the 93rd-minute strike from Andre Trindade the fifth time the Reds have lost a game thanks to a goal scored after stoppage time.It's the worst of any team in a single season in Premier League history and when you add in that draws were recorded through late goals from Leeds United and Fulham, it's crystal clear there is a problem that cannot be placed down to simple misfortune. The fact is we lost tonight and in my opinion that's all down to us, with all due respect to Wolves."On the slow starts themselves, Van Dijk says: "It's a combination of things - playing against Wolves, who obviously sit back.

That's a combination - down to us and down to Wolves. We could have created more and got into a lot more promising positions that we did tonight."That's what we have to show on Friday (in the FA Cup) if we want to beat them and go through in the FA Cup."FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE!