Confidence from Liverpool in Arne Slot is starting to ebb away rapidly, and the Dutchman now looks in growing danger of losing his job at Anfield, according to James Pearce, while two prominent pundits have also called for urgent change and FSG to sack the manager.
Slot enjoyed a hugely triumphant first season at the helm, guiding the Reds to Premier League glory at a canter. But the squad he inherited from Jurgen Klopp was then tinkered with as Liverpool added £440m (€505m, $600m) worth of new stars to arrive, while also seeing several other established stars depart.
Despite entering the new campaign full of optimism, Liverpool have endured a pitiful campaign, suffering a woeful 20 losses across all competitions.
While it has been strongly reported that Slot is expected to be given the green light to continue in the helm next season, we have reported that, while that is expected to be the case, the club’s owners, FSG, have at least wanted to see signs of improvement and positivity over the remaining games of the season.
Back in early March, we revealed several strong reservations FSG still had over the Dutchman.
Now, some two months later and in the wake of another dismal display – a 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa on Friday that leaves the Reds in fifth – journalist James Pearce has revealed that the tide is starting to turn against Slot.
“Slot said in the build-up to Friday’s 4-2 defeat that he expects to keep his job this summer following the recent conversations he’s had with FSG CEO of football Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes, but whether he should is a very different matter,” Pearce said in The Athletic.
“Can Edwards and Hughes really ignore the clamour for change among the fanbase? It’s growing louder by the week, and the Dutchman’s public reassurances that Liverpool will be a very different force under his leadership next term sound increasingly hollow.
“Slot has undoubtedly been dealt a bad hand by circumstances beyond his control this season, but he’s also consistently failed to get the best out of the resources available.
“Excuses are wearing thin, and trust in Slot has hit rock bottom. There’s so much wrong that it seems fanciful it could all be fixed by buying pace out wide and adding more of a combative edge in midfield.”
READ NEXT: Curtis Jones and Hugo Ekitike react to Mo Salah’s extraordinary swipe at Liverpool manager Arne Slot
Arne Slot sack? Liverpool questions are now being asked
Pearce is not the only one to seriously question Slot, either.
Just last week, the Daily Mail’s Lewis Steele insisted Liverpool supporters had also failed to be convinced by what they had seen in recent weeks.
He stated: “Slot, he needs to show something to give fans belief that he is the man to turn it round.”
Summing up the current mood among supporters and amid a fear that Slot is incapable of regenerating their trophy hopes, Steele added: “Something to give fans belief that next season will be better… so far, I’ve not seen any evidence to suggest it will be.”
Pundit Danny Murphy also feels Slot has lost the Reds’ faithful.
“My gut feeling is, generally, when the fans have turned to the level they have, that there’s no comeback,” he said.
“The finishing in the top five is obviously going to help his argument, because you’ve still got the revenue of Champions League football.
“I think it’s safe to say if they didn’t get that, it would be done.
“I don’t know the hierarchy and how they think and what their planning is for the summer, but I tell you, whoever’s in charge, there’s a lot of work to be done.
“A lot of work. Players leaving, players coming in.
“It’s going to be a big summer for Liverpool, which sounds ridiculous considering what went on last summer.”
“Yes. That’s a fact,” he stated.
“There’s a minority who think he should stay.”
Asked if the fans had been too quick to turn their back on him, Murphy added: “No, probably not. I would say that.
“I think [20] losses and the level of performances have been an unbelievable drop-off, a really bad drop-off.”
Murphy also thinks some of the current playing squad are no longer responding to the manager and that the Reds will not win the Premier League again if the 47-year-old remains in charge.
There is a “feeling the squad are not hearing him”, Murphy explained, before adding: “I think from a footballing perspective, if you look at how bad Liverpool have been, the amount of games they’ve lost, there’s a feeling that they’re not hearing him.
“It’s very hard to get that back once it’s gone. I don’t see them becoming title contenders again next season if he stays.
“Not just because of him, but I think they’ve had more chance [if he is replaced], to go back to the type of football Liverpool fans want because I don’t think he’s going to do it.
“That high-energy, high-press type of football that Liverpool fans want, it was a mixture [last season], but it was still more Klopp-like because they had Diaz, because they had Nunez, they were still a pressing side.
“What they did really well under him, and he deserves great credit for, is they managed games well and were more composed at times, and played more possession-based football, but there was still an element of Klopp’s football last season.”
Jermaine Pennant has also called for FSG to sack the manager.
In an angry rant, he stated: “FSG, how on earth do you see something totally different to what I see and 99.9% of the fans see? To think that next season will be any better under this management.
“Do you have unlimited funds we don’t know about?
“I do not care what’s going on with injuries… reigning Premier League champions should NOT have the same amount of losses as two promoted teams, Leeds and Sunderland.
“Slot has to go, that is NOT acceptable, the buck lies with you, and managers have gone for a lot less.
Liverpool FC have never previously conceded 52 goals in a 38-game league campaign. And there’s still one more game to go!
“Do you know how many records this manager has accumulated? And not for the good. It’s horrendous. One game to go and [I] still can’t say if we will get UCL.”
Will FSG change their minds?
What Liverpool does next will certainly be intriguing.
Liverpool’s possible retention of Slot, though, has received some unexpected support from Man Utd legend Roy Keane, who has explained why the Dutchman would be unlucky to lose his job and needs to remain in situ.
Indeed, the manager has himself given a hint about his staying in situ after discussing his plans for the rebuilding of the squad, though he has, worryingly, admitted it is a team coming towards the end of its cycle and that they may need to sell before they can buy this summer.
Will Slot survive? There seems to be an increasingly strong voice suggesting he now won’t…
Want more breaking transfer lines from original sources? Add TEAMtalk as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.
