The Arne Slot era at Liverpool encountered its first snag over the weekend as Nottingham Forest managed to spring a major surprise to snatch a win at Anfield with all three points intact, thanks to Callum Hudson-Odoi’s winner.
Liverpool’s defeat by Nottingham Forest on Saturday was a fitting reality check for the Reds after consecutive victories in their first three matches this season.
Slot’s remarkable start to life at Anfield with three successive Premier League wins, seven goals scored and none conceded ground to a momentary halt. His side’s exhilarating 3-0 win at Old Trafford prior to the international break is the juiciest pick of the season’s fruits so far that most like had many thinking that the Reds might actually have bypassed the expected transitional phase that was bound to follow in the wake of Jurgen Klopp’s retirement, as his predecessor’s shoes were pretty massive to fill.
The Liverpool job is by far the biggest one of Slot’s career despite having loads of experience from his previous roles, having also demonstrated in his early days at Feyenoord his uncanny ability to bounce back from setbacks.
The setback is not new to the Dutchman as Feyenoord had suffered defeat in Slot’s third Eredivisie match in charge back in August 2021, losing 3-1 to Utrecht. However in Feyenoord’s next league match, Slot and his team travelled away to Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven and more than tightened the slack, convincingly winning 4-0.
However, Liverpool fans might be better off not hoping for an immediate similar bounce-back in the Champions League this week as Feyenoord’s first match in all competitions after that loss to Utrecht was a 0-0 draw with Maccabi Haifa in the Europa League.
Feyenoord did, however, proceed to reach the Europa League final that season, and Liverpool fans would be hoping with eager anticipation for a spot in the Champions League final come May 2025.
Back to the league form, though, and throughout the 2021-22 Dutch league season, Feyenoord did not suffer successive losses, bouncing back from defeat six times, winning four and drawing two of those games.
Feyenoord ended up finishing the 2021-22 season in third place, before winning the Dutch league title the following year for only the second time in the 21st century as Slot’s impact was keenly felt.