Arne Slot afforded himself a little smile when he admitted that this was the toughest season in his career "by a mile" on Tuesday.

No matter what Slot achieves across the rest of his managerial days, this campaign has pushed the Dutchman to new limits.

After romping to the Premier League title in his first season in charge at Liverpool, the second has seen Slot and his side face a barrage of "setbacks", "hits" and "bad luck" as he mentioned during his news conference on Tuesday. More on that later.

The raw numbers do not make for good reading. Since winning their first five league matches at the start of the season, Liverpool have taken just 24 points from their next 20 games.

For context, Roy Hodgson won 25 points from 20 games before he was sacked as Liverpool boss in 2010-11.

In 2026 alone, Liverpool have won just one of their seven league games and earlier this season, nine defeats in 12 games was their worst run of form in 71 years.

"They've been really bad champions", was the verdict of Roy Keane on Sky Sports on Sunday, after Liverpool fell to their eighth league defeat of the season.

Put simply, such numbers are not good enough for the reigning champions, particularly given their £450m summer spend, and Slot conceded as much when he said it would be not be acceptable if Liverpool failed to qualify for the Champions League.

That Liverpool are still in with a chance of qualifying is primarily due to the fact that rivals such as Chelsea and Manchester United have gone through torrid spells too.

Both those clubs have sacked their managers this season after a breakdown in the relationship between the coach and senior figures.

In Slot's case, there is serious credit in the bank. The 47-year-old is the only coach alongside Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and Liverpool predecesor Jurgen Klopp to win the title since 2017-18.

It's also worth noting that in 2020-21, the season after Liverpool won the league under Klopp, they were eighth after 28 games but Klopp's future was never truly in doubt. They won 26 points from their last 30 available and ended up finishing third.

However, in the 2022-23 season Klopp's side failed to qualify for the Champions League - something Slot says would "not be acceptable" this term.

Asked what impact such a scenario would have on his own position, Slot replied: "That is again a difficult question for me to answer because I don't decide on my future.

"The only thing I do know is that it happened before, and ­recently, and it didn't affect the future of that manager. But that doesn't guarantee anything, of course.

"In general, [with] managers, especially at this club - maybe somewhere else it is mainly, but not only, about results - they also look at the progress the players make, the progress the team makes, the circumstances are sometimes taken into account.

"That is not at all clubs, but I think I am working at a club that does look at those things. As it has shown in the past when the club did not qualify for the Champions League."

Traditionally, Liverpool are not a club that sacks coaches and the understanding is that the Anfield hierarchy is behind Slot, until the end of the season at least.

Last week, an in-house roundtable chat between Slot, sporting director Richard Hughes and CEO Billy Hogan was posted across Liverpool's social channels.

Although it was filmed in mid-January, the video showcased a strong relationship between all. Hughes was of course instrumental in Slot's appointment and getting rid of him would mean admitting that it didn't work out.

Yet there is a clear awareness that performances and results must improve and Slot is aware of the pressure, both internally and externally.

Boos aren't exactly the norm at Anfield but they have been heard more frequently this season.

Away from the cameras, Slot is seen as calm, consistent and level-headed, but admissions that he finds it "hard to hear" claims that Liverpool's football has been "dull" speak of a man that is battling hard, and who is insistent his side can do "something special".

There is certainly mitigation for Liverpool's struggles. The death of Diogo Jota last summer was tragic and last week former Liverpool keeper Caoimhín Kelleher said that meant the football side of things was not important this season for Liverpool as players dealt with his loss.

Slot said the meeting he held with the players after Jota's funeral was one of the most difficult things he's done in his life.

No one at the club will use Jota's passing as an excuse for their form but the impact of such a tragedy must be considered.

Liverpool have also faced an injury crisis, including the long-term absences of Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley and Alexander Isak, while going through a squad transition that has focused on technical footballers, rather than physical signings.

The feeling behind that strategy is that long-term, the game will move towards a focus on possession, rather than the emphasis on physicality seen this season.

The form of key players dipping hasn't helped either, so a range of factors have combined to leave Liverpool where they are.

Regardless, given the quality of players at their disposal, it is widely accepted that the defending champions are indeed "not performing to Liverpool's standard", as Slot has said.

His suggestion on Tuesday that Liverpool have only been outplayed in three halves this season was far-fetched, however.

When a team loses eight and draws six out of 25 games, such a claim doesn't stand up.

"The question is are we unlucky or is it part of who we are? That is something we can only find out in the upcoming three to four months," Slot said, when asked about the bad luck his side have had.

Liverpool still have the chance of silverware in the FA Cup and Champions League, but the minimum aim for the rest of the campaign will be to qualify for the Champions League next season.

Their financial model is based upon sustainability and there will be serious implications if they miss out.

Like that Klopp side of 2020-21, they need to be "close to perfection" as Slot said from now on, starting with the trip to Sunderland on Wednesday.

Of course, there is an elephant in the room after Xabi Alonso left his position as Real Madrid manager, with the former Liverpool midfielder touted as a possible replacement for Slot.

However, given no manager in Liverpool's history has a better win percentage (61%) than Slot, it is understandable why, for now at least, he retains the club's backing.