For Liverpool and Man United, managerial futures are the next big question

Any side making five major signings and changing style is taking a risk. It will always take time for the new system to bed in, and Liverpool were hampered by two factors: that it took them so long to get the Alexander Isak deal done and that they’ve suffered such misfortune with injuries that the big three purchases – Isak, Hugo Ekitiké and Florian Wirtz – have been able to start only one game together. It’s not entirely apparent what the plan was but, equally, it’s never been possible to put it into practice.

At the same time certain key players – Mohamed Salah, Alexis Mac Allister, Andy Robertson, Ibrahima Konaté and, to an extent, Virgil van Dijk – have suffered downturns in form. Slot has not been without blame but it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think that a manager who won the league in his first season might be afforded an off year given the mitigating circumstances. Unless, that is, Liverpool have an outstanding candidate already lined up to replace him.

Slot’s biggest problem, perhaps, is that the relationship between Klopp and Liverpool fans was so intense, so exhausting, that whatever came next was always going to seem, perhaps necessarily, more transactional. This is fine so long as results are good, but means there is very little affection to draw on when performances dip.

If Liverpool have questions to answer, the sense is that United have an answer to question. Carrick arrived as an interim manager but has won 10 and drawn two of his 14 games in charge. At first glance, that looks exceptional, but United’s early exits from both cup competitions and their lack of European football has meant that they are much fresher than almost every opponent they have faced in his tenure. Has the football been so stunning to convince directors that he can reproduce that with Champions League involvement next season? Apparently so – he is expected to be offered the job.

Really the question comes down to his work around the training field, how the players feel and the impression he has made within the club. And yet the case for him is not overwhelming: he’s managed to achieve the precise level of success to make the decision as hard as possible.

It feels probable at this stage that Carrick and Slot will still be in charge when United and Liverpool next play each other but it’s perfectly possible to make a case that neither should be.

• This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition