Jamie Carragher was in no doubt.“My worry with Liverpool and Arne Slot,” the former Liverpool and England defender said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football last week, “is are we going to be in a situation a bit like (Erik) ten Hag, where he had a great first season… but the second season was really poor. Then you get into October (of season three) and you think, ‘We’ve got to change the manager’.”Carragher acknowledged that Slot’s achievement in winning the Premier League in his first campaign elevated him to a level above what fellow Dutchman Ten Hag achieved in just over two years as Manchester United manager following his summer 2022 appointment, but the point stood.On Saturday, Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah delivered a stinging criticism of Slot’s approach, calling for them to return to “being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear”. “It cannot be negotiable, and everyone that joins this club should adapt to it,” said Salah, who will leave the club at the end of this season after nine years. “Winning some games here and there is not what Liverpool should be about.”Salah’s comments followed a limp 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa on Friday that increased criticism of Slot and questions about his future in the job.We asked our Manchester United reporter Carl Anka and Liverpool counterpart Andy Jones to debate the parallels between the two Dutch coaches and whether Liverpool should be concerned.What are the similarities between Slot’s current second season at Liverpool and Ten Hag’s with United?Carl Anka: Ten Hag’s first season in charge of United delivered silverware, Champions League qualification and the hope that the club were beginning a new dynastic period. Then 2023-24 happened. Misfires in the transfer market, a widespread injury crisis and an overambitious tactical game plan saw everything unravel.Perhaps I’m being too harsh, but it is fascinating to watch another Dutch manager have a positive first season built on the goals of a wide player (Marcus Rashford/Mohamed Salah), only to watch said player get deprioritised following the summer signing of a new striker (Rasmus Hojlund/Alexander Isak).Andy Jones: Both came in and steered the ship in the direction of progress. The following seasons saw a wrong turn and regression to the point where many supporters gave up.In isolation, Liverpool’s summer 2025 business was very good, but there are so many mitigating factors to consider. Injuries, new player adaptation and recruitment focusing on technical players while the rest of the league prepared for a fight. There is also the impact of everyone losing a friend and team-mate with the death of Diogo Jota a few days before pre-season began. How does a head coach deal with that?Arne Slot won the Premier League in fine style in his 2024-25 debut season at Liverpool (Carl Recine/Getty Images)That being said, the brand of football has been miserable. All the traits that made Liverpool so good last season – pressing, controlled threat and a compact defensive structure – have been largely non-existent. Slot has struggled to find solutions tactically, with the exception of making matches into low-event games, but personnel has played a part in that, too.Ten Hag’s United couldn’t possibly have been this bad at defending set pieces though, surely?Do they play similar styles of football?Anka: Not when things were working for Liverpool, but their team’s current state bears a few similarities to United’s turgid football in Ten Hag’s second season. United in 2023-24 were weak pressers of the ball in the front three and had huge injury problems in their defence. The result was a team stretched thin in both boxes, creating a “doughnut midfield” that was underpowered and easily bypassed with quick counter-attacks.