Pundits gushed from every which way as Arne Slot led Liverpool to the Premier League title with the consummate ease of a seasoned coach within the English game.
The reality is that the Reds were written off after Jurgen Klopp stood down with a shocking mic drop, and doubts multiplied after FSG’s rebrand failed to produce exciting transfer results across the 2024 summer window for newbie Slot, who had previously only managed in his Dutch homeland.
The 2025/26 campaign has been a stark and sobering shift for the Dutch coach, whose team of champions have been augmented by a wealth of expensive summer signings.
Liverpool have been a shell of themselves, but they have picked things up over the past month, 11 unbeaten after previously, staggeringly, losing nine of 12 games in all competitions.
Even so, Slot’s position at the helm is far from secure.
The latest on Arne Slot’s position at Liverpool
Slot has crafted a pragmatic unbeaten run over the past month, and now they are fourth in the Premier League after drifting into mid-table earlier on.
Even so, a lot has been left to be desired, and top sources such as The Athletic have suggested that another deterioration in results and a further souring of the mood on Merseyside could push the boss’s tenure toward being untenable.
Should push come to shove, sources at TEAMtalk believe Xabi Alonso could be in line to succeed him, having this week left his post at Real Madrid after a turbulent six-month spell.
The report stresses that FSG are ready to open talks with the 44-year-old’s representatives when the right opportunity emerges.
This is somewhat corroborated by The Athletic, and it’s worth remembering that Alonso, with a deep connection to Liverpool, was in contention ahead of Slot before opting to spend another season with Bayer Leverkusen after Klopp made his decision in early 2024.
Why FSG want to appoint Alonso
Alonso was caught between the grinding stones of pressure and expectation at Real Madrid, and he has left his post halfway through his first term at the helm.
Ask Florian Wirtz or Jeremie Frimpong about this master tactician and they should reveal much of his aptitude, with Liverpool’s £116m playmaker once saying it was “great to have a legend as a coach“.
A process of symbiosis between tactics and player-coach relationships paid Leverkusen handsomely. All were rewarded. The German club won their first-ever Bundesliga title as invincibles, and they stormed to the DFB-Pokal title too. In this, that side sealed immortal status in the Rhineland.
His departure from the Santiago Bernabeu – where he preferred a 4-3-2-1 or 4-3-3 formation – says more of Madrid’s culture and (unreasonable) demands than it does of his coaching, and at Liverpool, the Spanish icon would find a city and fanbase and squad more amenable to his philosophies.
|
Arne Slot at Liverpool (2024 vs 2025) |
||
|---|---|---|
|
2024 |
# |
2025 |
|
27 |
Games |
56 |
|
23 |
Wins |
30 |
|
3 |
Draws |
10 |
|
1 |
Losses |
16 |
|
2.66 |
PPG |
1.79 |
|
73 |
Goals scored |
98 |
|
27 |
Goals conceded |
71 |
|
Data via Transfermarkt |
||
What is clear is that Slot’s decline at the Liverpool helm predates the start of the 2025/26 campaign. The Reds were slightly patchy toward the end of last season, lacking the all-consuming energy and incisiveness they played with through the early months of Slot’s reign, blistering through the Premier League.
That’s no longer the case, and if an uptick is not marked soon, Alonso may receive a call and an invitation to make an emotional reunion with the Anfield club.
A managerial marriage between coach and club feels destined to happen, but Alonso will not hang about for the Reds, to be sure, leaving sporting director Richard Hughes with a potentially tough decision on his hands.
At Real Madrid, Alonso was caught between a rock and a hard place. He could have ploughed forward through the hard-packed earth, but it was clear he was on borrowed time.
Instead, he has left and will now wait for the right role to present itself. He will have no shortage of suitors.
Liverpool will be right at the front of the queue, to be sure, and FSG must now determine whether Slot is the man to lead them forward for the long run, and consider whether this is an opportunity they can afford to pass them by.
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