On the eve of the trip to Arsenal, Arne Slot, again, made mention of Paris Saint-Germain, but why is the Liverpool head coach so consumed by the French side?Another press conference from the manager, and another afternoon of holding the breath in case something erring on the side of ridiculous is said.Slot quickly earned a reputation last season for handling the media admirably, in his maiden year in the bear pit that is English football, and swatted every question away both effortlessly and with a high degree of explanation and intellect.It was bold work considering these press conferences come relentlessly, thick and fast, and all conducted in a language not native to his own.Slot may have gone on to pull apart the league in devastating fashion on the way to becoming a Premier League champion and joining a very select few in having done so at his first attempt, but now the landscape looks starkly different.The holes in Arne Slot’s continuous PSG referencesLiverpool are struggling. Sure, there may well be a 10-game unbeaten run currently in existence, but the bottom line is Liverpool are not convincing and are ultimately unable to find even a modicum of their former champion selves.And then this week, on the eve of a huge showdown with current leaders and title favourites Arsenal, Slot opted to pull his bizarre Paris Saint-Germain card again.For those unfamiliar, the under-fire Liverpool boss has developed quite the habit of referencing PSG rather frequently, particularly when the subject of form or playing style crops up.“My football is Paris Saint-Germain vs. Liverpool, Liverpool vs. Paris Saint-Germain,” came Slot’s opening retort when asked whether his team have changed their structure and approach to matches as a result.Last season, two legs against PSG saw Liverpool take the football to the wire, ultimately missing out on penalties. The two in-form sides exchanged blows with a powerful respect, with Luis Enrique’s side going on to win the entire tournament thereafter.Liverpool-PSG: Stats Over 2 LegsStatisticLiverpoolPSGPossession38%62%Total Shots2148Shots on Target418Big Chances47Expected Goals (xG)1.784.41Final Score (Agg)11** Data via FotMob. PSG progressed 4-1 on penalties following a 1-1 aggregate draw over 210 minutes.Slot also has a history of annotating how he believes the winner of that match was always likely to go on and be crowned European Champions. And, given the lack of any other form of hindsight, PSG’s hoisting of the trophy is a measure of – albeit tenuous – proof in the pudding.But if we scratch beneath the surface of two close results, Liverpool registered just four shots on target over 210 minutes of play with the Parisians.Were it not for Harvey Elliott’s complete smash-and-grab goal at the Parc Des Princes to clinch a vital first-leg victory, Liverpool would have hosted at Anfield on an even keel. The retrospective match data suggests that it would not have gone well for the Reds.Slot was rightly proud of his side’s performances, given they were against the calibre of team who would go on to beat all others. The problem, however, is that he has tried to replicate this game plan multiple times since, and to miserable consequence.Why Liverpool have become stagnant in 2025/26The burning issue now remains that Liverpool are not able to overcome lesser opponents, squandering one draw after another or, at its very worst, getting battered at home to a relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest.Slot may have observed two talent-laden football teams exchanging one beautiful passage of play after another when Liverpool faced PSG, but the unavoidable fact is the Reds did not dominate; nor did they progress to the next round.Last season, domestic affairs were much more straightforward for Liverpool. That’s not at all to take away from the achievement of surging to the title in a first campaign with a new manager – if anything, Slot is still not given enough credit for this.The idle chat of Slot inheriting Jurgen Klopp’s team and taking it to glory is wide of the mark. Were that the case, Klopp would have finished his Liverpool tenure as a Champion of England once again, using his ‘Klopp team’.““My football is Paris Saint-Germain vs. Liverpool, Liverpool vs. Paris Saint-Germain. That is how I would love to have every single game, but you need to have two teams to have an open game of football and not all these things that don’t make a game of football nice.”Slot benefited last season from a conservative approach and detailed micro-coaching, allowing the crop of stars he inherited to play their existing style with a few minor tweaks.Slot, in effect, applied the safety brakes last season. He allowed Klopp’s team to ebb and flow aggressively over the pitch, but with the firm request to dial back the tempo and enforce control in the latter stages.It’s not surprising that this is no longer replicated this season. As Alexis Mac Allister recently revealed during an interview with Sky Sports, it is believed internally that Liverpool have tried to change too much, too soon. Be it a byproduct of the transfer policy or perhaps an aggressive gesture to begin a new era, the clearing out of Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez to beef up Liverpool’s cash kitty has been painfully felt. Pair this with the removal of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s unique skillset and it feels obvious that Slot’s Liverpool were going to come unstuck.You cannot both extract internal identity and reshape playing style at the same time; last season was evidence enough that tweaks can be successful if deployed within an already high-functioning machine.And so, we’re now in this frustrating and rather miserable middle ground. The manager has developed a habit of illustrating the tactical set-up of opponents when put on the spot and asked why more points have been dropped.How teams have tactically sussed Liverpool outSlot’s go-to is highlighting the low block and the anti-football defensive tactics stacked up in advance against Liverpool. He may have a point, yet unfortunately, it is entirely irrelevant.Sadly, you cannot request a team to turn up at Anfield and play in a certain way for the joy of the sport, to then set up against said opponent with ‘PSG football’ and tear them apart. Fanciful, but the game doesn’t work as so.Slot has retained the confidence in his own approach and coaching abilities, which is admirable only insofar as it continues to get results. And right now, results for Liverpool are wins, not momentum-stifling last-minute draws.There is absolutely no good to come from the manager of a football club committing to going down with his own ship, in blind belief that his tactical considerations will come good.Title-winning season vs. 2025/26 so farMetric (Per Match)2024/25 Season2025/26 SeasonDifferenceAverage Possession57.9%61.0%+3.1%Expected Goals (xG)2.191.72-0.47Big Chances Created3.92.8-1.1Shots on Target6.14.0-2.1Goals Per Match2.31.5-0.8Stats via FotMob (Premier League data).Slot has a lot of credit in the bank given what he has achieved, but there now needs to be an acceptance that teams have sussed Liverpool out.His philosophy has been black-listed, and now even lesser opponents are able to come to Anfield knowing a lacklustre Liverpool won’t be able to provide a plan B, and be picked off or at least bullied into a draw as a result. This is the one aspect which now borders on crisis territory, and absolutely needs to be addressed.Staying in the Premier League is both a very brutal and highly lucrative business. For that reason, those dwelling in the bottom half have no qualms about taking on Liverpool and suffocating the match into a pulseless submission, and why should they?The cracks have emerged and the evidence is now freely available, showing the Reds can and will give up points.The need for a new, tweaked model for LiverpoolSlot may have stuck largely to his brand of football in many senses, and he has the stats to back it up. The issue is, these same stats also hold up a mirror to the manager and ring rather loudly the alarm bells.Liverpool are still top of the pile when it comes to possession, and within the top three when it comes to attacking chances and passes in the final third. It’s Slot football, and something the manager can still present as fact… but it’s no longer winning football matches.It was no coincidence at all that Liverpool looked much more spritely against Fulham, and at Arsenal, with the pacey injection of Jeremie Frimpong. The same player who stretched the width a tad more, gave the opposition something to think about and ultimately provided a last-gasp assist for what should have been the winner.Liverpool have lost the pace of the likes of Diaz and Nunez and they’re paying the price. Of course, some of the hottest prospects of world football in Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike have been brought on board and the future feels exciting, but right now, harking back to a pair of PSG fixtures from almost 12 months ago won’t cut the mustard.A new, tweaked model is needed and the players need to buy in immediately.Grinding out wins is far more important than beautiful play right now. Laden all the paint on the canvas, then make it a masterpiece later.There is still a belief around Anfield with the players and fans alike, but the mood is getting very stagnant. Slot needs to ditch his PSG obsession, or else the future clashes in which he goes toe-to-toe with the cream of Europe may be many years away.