After defeats to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray and Chelsea, Liverpool find themselves under major scrutiny, not because of attitude or effort, but because of structure.For all the technical quality, the expensive recruitment and the clear tactical language Arne Slot has tried to impose, the team’s shape no longer convinces – beautifully assembled on paper but alarmingly easy to play through in reality.There is an unmistakable anxiety surrounding Liverpool at the moment. It isn’t hysteria or overreaction, but a collective recognition that something fundamental has shifted.The side that once looked built to suffocate opponents has now lost its fear factor. For all the precision and possession, the control that defined Slot’s best work has faded, leaving a team elegant in design but fragile in practice. Tweaking, not replacingSlot’s early conversations with Jurgen Klopp provided the framework for his early analysis.Klopp’s Liverpool had intensity and belief in abundance, but they had become stretched, too open in transitions, too dependent on emotion, too thin in control when fatigue or form wavered.Slot’s task was not to dismantle what Klopp built, but to mask those frailties.Liverpool matured and learned to rest within games without losing grip, defending through discipline rather than desperation. It was a version of control that allowed them to play with clarity and composure.Slot’s Liverpool felt like an experienced fighter who knew when to attack and when to lean back against the ropes. That recalibration brought brilliant success, as Slot laid the foundations of what was expected from the new coach. The second actThis season was meant to be the natural evolution of that foundation. The arrivals of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike were designed to add variety and incision.On paper, it looks close to perfect. Ryan Gravenberch now anchors the midfield, Alexis Mac Allister plays slightly higher as the metronome and either Wirtz or Dominik Szoboszlai operate in the half-spaces that connect midfield to attack.In theory, it is a configuration built for dominance, with more technical security, more precision, more composure on the ball and more incision in the final third.And that is where the tension lies. The addition of Wirtz has made Liverpool’s midfield more creative and beautifully connected, capable of retaining possession and threading sequences through the tightest of spaces.Yet it has also changed the team’s internal chemistry. The triangle that once had balance, with one sitter, one connector and one creator, now leans heavily toward invention.The question isn’t simply whether they have become less robust. Liverpool’s midfield isn’t soft because it lacks steel, it is fragile because it lacks proximity.But proximity depends on having the right profile at the base, a natural No. 6 who senses danger and keeps the team compact.Slot’s design depends on compression, with defence, midfield and attack moving as one so that when possession is lost, the team collapses inward and closes the gaps before opponents can breathe.Lately, those layers have begun to drift apart. The midfield pushes higher, the back line hesitates to follow, and the compactness that once made Liverpool suffocating has gone. In that stretched shape, even a more physical trio would struggle to contain transitions.Liverpool still dominate possession but not territory. They own the ball, not the ground around it. The opposition now moves freely through areas that used to be red-zoned. Numbers behind the concernsBefore the defeat at Stamford Bridge, Sky Sports reported that Liverpool had already conceded 12 big chances in the Premier League, the most among the top six.Despite enjoying long spells of possession in all three games, Liverpool still allowed 5.57 expected goals against, a number that reflects exactly what supporters can see with their own eyes.Across their opening seven league matches, Liverpool’s xGA sits at roughly eight and even higher on alternative models. These aren’t the numbers of a side outplayed in volume, but of one conceding the wrong kinds of chances.That distinction is everything. Liverpool can dominate 80 percent of a game, but when their midfield shape breaks, the quality of the chances they concede is too high to survive across a season.When the press fails by a fraction, opponents don’t shoot from distance, they arrive through the centre with a clear sight of goal.Alisson has already been forced into too many rescues. The pattern is familiar: control, possession, territory, then a single counter that cuts straight through. Arne Slot’s dilemmaIt would be too simple to blame Wirtz for the imbalance. In truth, Liverpool’s looseness predates him. His arrival has magnified an existing flaw.The real problem lies in the collective profile of the midfield. Mac Allister, Gravenberch and Szoboszlai are all superb on the ball but share the same attacking mindset.None have that natural instinct to sense danger early or to close passing lanes before they develop. Gravenberch is the best defensively of the three, yet even he prefers to step forward rather than sit.Wirtz hasn’t created that imbalance, he is simply operating within it. The solution isn’t to limit him, but to give him the right protection. A genuine double pivot with complementary attributes, one breaking lines and one closing them, would restore the compactness Slot’s system depends on.It is how his Feyenoord sides worked, balance behind the brilliance. That same structure would let Liverpool keep Wirtz’s creativity without sacrificing control.Gravenberch and Mac Allister are both gifted technicians who like to advance. When one steps forward, the other often follows, leaving large spaces behind.Slot’s football depends on precision and awareness, but right now the midfield triangle feels disjointed.The irony is that Wirtz embodies Slot’s philosophy perfectly, intelligent, brave on the ball, expressive between the lines. He gives Liverpool the kind of creativity they lacked last season, a player who can turn control into incision.Yet his presence also alters the chemistry. The midfield is now weighted toward artistry rather than authority. It can mesmerise opponents but it can’t always contain them. How we define controlSlot now stands at a crossroads. In the short term, there is no transfer fix. Coaching, not recruitment, will define the next few months.Long term, though, Slot may have to evolve his design if Liverpool are truly to take the next step. The system’s purity depends on having the right profiles.To make Wirtz’s creativity coexist with control, Slot might eventually need to add a destroyer in the mould of Fabinho or Javier Mascherano, a specialist whose first instinct is to sense danger, protect space and restore order when rhythm breaks.The idea remains strong. The team still has the quality and the identity to challenge for everything, but control in football isn’t measured by how long you keep the ball. It’s measured by how safe you feel without it.