Liverpool FC Forum

[kazza]

Actually I don’t necessarily want him to stay but I fear stability more and think by winning the title he deserves another year to see his new recruits gel. We were not as consistently bad with Klopp ever, but Klopp had a world class Salah and never had the injuries that we had this year. What I actually don’t want is everyone against him at the start of the year and hoping we fail so we get another manager. We have talented players that underperformed and I think next year will be different without Salah in the team.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

i think it would be a mistake to keep him, he's got a hell of a job to get the fans back on side, we still dont look convincing btw, its not like he's fixed anything. 8 months down the line we still look disjointed.
This season has been horrendous, its put me off football actually, normally i dread the end of the footy season now i cant wait for it to end, i'm not even looking forward to the world cup, i just want a good long break from the sport. 
If he is in charge of pre-season we can write off next season as well because our players wont be fit enough again, even if we sack him a couple of months into next season  there's not much a new manager can do with an unfit squad.
He's looked like a deer stuck in the headlights all season, he hasnt had a clue what to do, he is not the answer, he's not the manager we are looking for.

[7_Kewell]

A few fans are using our likely CL qualification as justification to keep Slot.

It’s papering over the cracks.

We’ll get 5th because the chavs and Newcastle have been underperforming.

We are lucky not to be 6th or 7th based on the quality of our football and tactics this season.

[leeroy74]

we've conceded 43 goals this season in the league, that's on a level with Forest who are 16th ATM. Kewell is correct, it's papering over the cracks. This season we started off playing dire but scrapping a last minute winner, start next season like that and don't get the last minute winners and this time next season we're hanging around 12-15 place.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

We've just spent an entire season watching us get outworked, outran and out-hustled by everyone and the geniuses who run this club are on the verge of putting the architect of that disaster in charge of another pre-season.
We deserve everything that's going to happen to us next season and i predict none of it will be good with these owners and this manager in charge. Look i get the fact they don't want to appear knee jerk and he won the title blah blah blah but its been 12 months of dreadful football, 12 fvcking months. People are losing the will to live with this guy he's sucked the enjoyment and enthusiasm out of everything. The thought of another 12 months of the same insipid, disjointed, negative ***** is almost too much to bear.

[7_Kewell]

We've just spent an entire season watching us get outworked, outran and out-hustled by everyone and the geniuses who run this club are on the verge of putting the architect of that disaster in charge of another pre-season.
We deserve everything that's going to happen to us next season and i predict none of it will be good with these owners and this manager in charge. Look i get the fact they don't want to appear knee jerk and he won the title blah blah blah but it’s been 12 months of dreadful football, 12 fvcking months. People are losing the will to live with this guy he's sucked the enjoyment and enthusiasm out of everything. The thought of another 12 months of the same insipid, disjointed, negative ***** is almost too much to bear.

Sums it up perfectly 

[leeroy74]

continue with Slot and this mentality next season and I'll wager we finish out of the top 5, possible around 10th.

[damjan193]

Not only that but we'll miss out on top managers that are available right now. When Slot inevitably departs either by sacking or his contract ends next season there might not be any decent managers available then and we may end up getting a Liam Rossenior.

[kartiek]

Arne definitely needs to go at the end of this season. He simply cannot compete tactically with the likes of Guardiola or other top managers. It would be a waste of the talent that we have in this team. I genuinely hope keeping him for next season is not the plan behind close doors.

[Reg]

we've conceded 43 goals this season in the league, that's on a level with Forest who are 16th ATM. Kewell is correct, it's papering over the cracks. This season we started off playing dire but scrapping a last minute winner, start next season like that and don't get the last minute winners and this time next season we're hanging around 12-15 place.

Great point! Only two teams are actually defending well, every other team has basically conceded the same number of goals except the bottom 3 . Top dollar defenders are no better than mid and lower table defenders. What might have been if only we'd agreed to pay £20 million to Palace for Guehi.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Arne definitely needs to go at the end of this season. He simply cannot compete tactically with the likes of Guardiola or other top managers. It would be a waste of the talent that we have in this team. I genuinely hope keeping him for next season is not the plan behind close doors.

Hiya mate, hope you are doing well.
I was rather hoping that all this talk of him staying was just a cunning plan by the owners to make sure he doesnt down tools before CL qualification is in the bag, letting a manager know that his services wont be required next season probably isnt the best idea when CL qualification is not yet mathematically certain.
A lot of ex players, journalists close to the club and pundits including Jamie Carragher are now saying though that they believe Arne will be our manager next season, its looking a lot less like a cunning plan and more and more like the actual one.
Worrying times.

[Reg]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/20 ... self-anew/

Arne Slot is keeping his Liverpool job, but knows he must prove himself anew

Dutchman has to show signs of progress after failure to challenge for trophies this season created toxic atmosphere among supporters

Dominic King
Published 25 April 2026 8:19am BST

Proof. It is a word with which Arne Slot is going to become increasingly familiar when he moves on to the next phase of his Liverpool journey.

Barring a calamity in the final five games of this season, such as five straight defeats, Slot will lead Liverpool into the 2026-27 Premier League campaign. Fenway Sports Group retains faith in a man who delivered the club their 20th title on this weekend 12 months ago, and is determined to stand by him.

This stance has never wavered. When Liverpool began to stagger like a boxer who had been caught flush on the chin in the autumn, FSG stood firm. For instance, when Julian Nagelsmann, the flamboyant Germany head coach, was put forward as a possible Slot replacement on November 25 last year, the reply to queries was “total nonsense”.

FSG comes in for criticism – a small group of fans hired an electronic billboard and parked it outside the club’s training ground on Friday, to protest against rising ticket prices – but when it makes decisions it invariably remains consistent.

So when Slot was told FSG backed him and it understood the extraordinary circumstances that have pockmarked the title defence and made this a season like no other, he had little reason to doubt the message from Boston.

The support has been obvious to people within the building. It would not be uncommon when a manager is under pressure for their mood to change, but Slot has remained balanced and his behaviour has been rational throughout.

It is why, in recent weeks, Slot has felt compelled to go public with his belief he is sure “things will be better” come August, but saying and doing are two entirely different things. This is where “proof” comes into play – he knows the onus is on him to change the landscape.

“I think people only start to believe when they are seeing it,” he explained. “That means results, for now, and for next season when they [supporters] are seeing the team – although I think the belief was really there last summer when we signed a few players.

“That’s usually what comes with a few signings, people get very excited by that. People usually first want to see it [signs of progress] – and that’s what we need to do after the summer. But we are mainly focused here on the upcoming games, as that could also impact our plans for the summer.”

In so many ways, FSG’s financial model is beholden to the rewards that come from the Champions League and it is the minimum requirement of whoever is in charge to deliver it.

So pressure – and the constant need to prove yourself – is part of everyday life. Slot is an intense individual, a football obsessive, but does not wear the responsibility heavily. Some players might see the situation differently, not least the ones – Mohamed Salah, for instance – who have struggled for game time or been removed from the team, but Slot generally commands a high level of respect.

None of this, of course, will convince those critics who want him jettisoned. Liverpool’s failure to challenge for trophies has created an atmosphere among fans that is more toxic than the last days of former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett in 2010, when Roy Hodgson was manager.

Is that not remarkable? In the last act of that shambles, Liverpool were drowning with a club record debt of £350m, having posted a record pre-tax loss that year of £54.9m, and ended up in the High Court, threatened with the prospect of administration.

Different times, different problems. But in the 16 years since, standards and expectations have risen tenfold and nobody knows better than Slot what is at stake for him – and his squad – in the final five matches and then when Liverpool reconvene in July.

“Will there ever be another season where we concede so many goals in extra time?” Slot asked, aware of the self-inflicted damage Liverpool have caused. “I don’t think that is even possible. So that would even add six, seven or eight points to our total.”

In fact, there have been nine games this season in which Liverpool have conceded after the 84th minute – Crystal Palace (a), Chelsea (a), Manchester United (h), Leeds (a), Fulham (a), Bournemouth (a), Manchester City (h), Wolves (a) and Tottenham (h). Being able to stand firm in those fixtures would have given Liverpool an extra 14 points, meaning they would now be on 69 and right in the title race.


It would be absurd, mind you, to attempt to argue that is the only aspect Slot must fix. The common – and most damning – complaint from Anfield regulars through the grim winter months has been that the football Liverpool have played has been boring.

“You would like a team from Liverpool to generate more chances,” Slot acknowledged. “I can tell you exactly why that is not happening – but I don’t want to do that. It is not the moment for it. But if I ever write a book, I will explain exactly why these things have happened.”

While he does not want to elaborate, here is one factor. Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike have managed just 119 minutes together, spread across six fixtures, all season. Recruited for close to £320m, they have cost Liverpool £2.71m per minute.


Ekitike will now miss the rest of 2026, having undergone surgery to repair his ruptured Achilles tendon, the latest long-term absentee after Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley and Isak. Liverpool will not replace him directly, but they do need to replenish their goals, given Salah is also leaving.

To do that, Liverpool need speed on the flanks. The club’s recruitment department have had discussions already with the representatives of Yan Diomande, the in-demand RB Leipzig winger, about his intentions.

Leipzig, a club with whom Liverpool have a good relationship, want in the region of €100m (£87m) for the 19-year-old, who is also courted by Bayern Munich. There is no indication yet that Liverpool will press ahead with such an expensive move, but they are doing due diligence.

Denzel Dumfries, Inter Milan’s right-wing back, is another option. There was noise around him in January about a potential move to Anfield and the Netherlands international is a close friend of Virgil van Dijk. Aged 30, his experience would be useful.

So much experience, after all, is departing. Aside from Salah, Andy Robertson will go and talk of Alisson Becker moving to Juventus persists. Liverpool triggered a 12-month option on Alisson’s deal earlier this month, but Slot was non-committal when asked about the Brazilian.

“The people who make these decisions take everything into account,” he said. “They try to make the best decisions with the interest of the club. It [experience] is definitely one argument to keep him, but there are other arguments. That is a decision the club has to make if that is needed.”

What is needed, more than anything, is signs of progress. Slot will go into the summer with only 12 months remaining on his contract, as will Richard Hughes, the director of football, who was instrumental in hiring him. FSG talked about revamping his terms last season, but nothing has moved in the meantime.

So much has happened since Spurs were thrashed 5-1 on April 27, 2025, to win the title, and the fact grief counsellors are available at all times, for players to discuss the lasting impact of Diogo Jota’s passing, is a reminder about what is truly important.

Slot was universally praised for the dignified and compassionate way he handled the kind of event for which you can never prepare; he has never once used the tragedy as an excuse, but he is under no illusion of the toll it has taken on everyone at the club.

A summer break is required for all and they should, in all likelihood, jet off having secured their place in the Champions League. When they return, the pressure for Slot and his players to show they can take the club forward will be intense from day one.

“The reality is we are playing five more games and we have to try to get qualification done,” Van Dijk said. “It’s definitely not the standards I expect and envision myself being a Liverpool player – just to qualify for the Champions League.”

It is not what Slot envisages, either. He must prove he can get them moving forward again.

[damjan193]

The article conveniently forgets to mention the lack of fitness in the side and the fact that we've lost the ability to press. These for me are the biggest problems that Slot obviously doesn't know how to fix.

In 33 games so far this season we've been outran in 29. Only Chelsea have been worse than us, having been outran in all the games they played.

[7_Kewell]

Surely, if they have so much confidence in him, they’d offer a new contract?

[kazza]

Surely, if they have so much confidence in him, they’d offer a new contract?

If the team has a good season next year they probably will