Liverpool's Premier League title defence has disintegrated in the space of 15 matches despite spending £450 million during the close season.
Their Anfield fortress has been breached in Europe by a humiliating 4-1 defeat against PSV.
On December 6, after Liverpool conceded their 10th set-piece goal of the Premier League season and Ao Tanaka snatched a dramatic 3-3 draw for Leeds United at Elland Road, unused substitute Mohamed Salah threw a grenade into the situation with an incendiary post-match interview.
It's a combination of circumstances from which few head coaches would emerge unscathed. A matter of months on from getting his hands on Liverpool's record-equalling 20th league title, how long does Arne Slot have left?
Will Liverpool sack Arne Slot?
Despite the drama of more dropped points and star Salah claiming his relationship with Slot has broken down after spending three games on the bench, the indications in early December were that Liverpool remained committed to Slot.
Winning the Premier League title in his first season meant the Dutchman equalled the haul that the adored Jurgen Klopp (more on him later) managed in almost nine years on Merseyside.
That is, of course, an oversimplification. Klopp won every trophy Liverpool contested during his time at the helm, with the exception of the Europa League, and reached three Champions League finals.
Klopp's Premier League title defence collapsed amid a blizzard of injuries and the general weirdness of the post-COVID season in 2020/21. This Liverpool team have difficulties of a very different kind as the squad process the collective grief associated with the death of their teammate and friend Diogo Jota.
After a seven-match winning run on the back of the penalty shootout loss to Crystal Palace in the Community Shield, Liverpool have only won four of 15 matches in all competitions. There have been slumps of four and three consecutive defeats in that period. Two wins in their past 10 Premier League games leave them 10 points behind leaders Arsenal.
Such runs cannot go on forever, even at clubs such as Liverpool, where the cult of the manager is strong. So, if Slot and the Reds have to part company, who would be up next?
MORE: Mohamed Salah: Liverpool have thrown me under the bus, Brighton game could be 'goodbye'
Next Liverpool manager
Jurgen Klopp
Slot's predecessor is currently the bookmaker's favourite. Klopp has not worked in coaching since he bade an emotional farewell to Anfield in 2024 and has not expressed any desire to return to the training ground. In reality, this is surely a non-starter, while Klopp purportedly has interest from elsewhere.
Xabi Alonso
The most highly-rated coach in Europe this time last year on the back of his work at Bayer Leverkusen and a former Anfield favourite, Alonso's tenure at Real Madrid was reportedly circling the drain heading into their Champions League home match against Manchester City. Klopp is apparently admired by the Santiago Bernabeu hierarchy. Should Alonso come back onto the market at this time, it would feel like another unhelpful element for Slot.
Steven Gerrard
Arguably Liverpool's greatest ever player – Salah would probably argue otherwise – and a man who would therefore be welcomed with open arms on a return to Anfield. The only issue here is that, since leading Rangers to the Scottish Premiership in 2020/21, Gerrard's managerial career at Aston Villa and Al Ettifaq has been underwhelming. Still, he could be an interim appointment if things with Slot become untenable, and it'd be a win for anyone who thinks "club DNA" is a reasonable determinant of football strategy.
Oliver Glasner
As the man who dealt Liverpool their first defeat of the season in September, after his Crystal Palace side had already caused them all sorts of problems in the Community Shield, this is sort of all Glasner's fault. At the time of writing, FA Cup winners Palace sit in the Champions League positions. The former Eintracht Frankfurt boss has worked wonders at Selhurst Park, while his regular grumblings about transfer policy suggest ambitions beyond south London.
Andoni Iraola
The other man, alongside Glasner, making waves with out of the Premier League's more "unfashionable" clubs, Iraola's job at Bournemouth has made big clubs across Europe take notice. There is a touch of Klopp around his high-octane, attacking style that could quickly win admirers at Anfield.
Johnny Heitinga
Realistically, no more than a Gerrard-style interim option. Former Everton defender Heitinga was Slot's assistant last season and was reportedly very popular with the playing squad. His ill-fated time in charge of Ajax was brought to an abrupt end in November, but he is at least available.