Liverpool head coach Arne Slot is facing questions about his future at Anfield after being beaten 4-0 by Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Saturday.
The Reds were hammered at The Etihad, thanks to a hat-trick from Erling Haaland, and that made it three defeats in the last five games in all competitions.
Slot has overseen 16 defeats in all competitions this season, whilst winning 25 times, and that is a fall off from losing just nine of 56 matches in the 2024/25 campaign.
The Dutchman won the Premier League title in his first year at the club after replacing Jurgen Klopp in the dugout, but his second season at Anfield has not gone to plan.
Liverpool have even been linked with interest in possible replacements for Slot ahead of the summer, with Andoni Iraola and Xabi Alonso two of the names mentioned.
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There are question marks over the suitability of both Iraola and Alonso, though. The former has never won a major trophy in his managerial career, whilst Alonso has never managed in the Premier League before.
If the Reds opt to part ways with Slot at the end of this season, they should look for someone with more experience managing in the league or winning trophies on a regular basis.
Speaking to Football Insider, former Aston Villa and Everton chief executive Keith Wyness has suggested that Jurgen Klopp could make a surprise return to Liverpool.
Wyness said: “There was one interesting thought the other day that somebody gave me was to say that there’s Bonnie Prince Jurgen is waiting across the water to come back and reclaim his throne.
“Now, to me, that’s a little bit fanciful, but you never know. In football, we never know. And there is that rumour strongly circulating in my network and that could be the case.”
Football Insider adds that Slot is expected to be sacked by the Reds in the summer and that Alonso is considered to be the favourite for the role, but this claim about Klopp could throw a spanner into the works.
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Now, it is first worth saying that this is only a rumour at this point and there are no concrete reports to suggest that the two parties are in talks or that Klopp would be interested in returning.
If the stars align, though, the German head coach would be an even better appointment than Alonso because of what he achieved at Liverpool in his first spell.
Klopp decided to walk away from the job at the end of the 2023/24 campaign because he was “running out of energy”, which was understandable after almost nine seasons in the dugout.
Last month, Sky Sports pundit Robert Earnshaw suggested that the German would be open to talks over a return to the club, after a two-year break from management.
If, as suggested by Wyness now and Earnshaw previously, Klopp is open to leaving his job as Head of Global Soccer at Redbull for a return to Anfield, the former Borussia Dortmund coach would be an even better appointment than Alonso.
The vastly experienced boss won a Premier League title and the Champions League during his time on Merseyside, whilst he also won two Bundesliga titles at Dortmund before his spell in England.
|
Trophies won as a manager |
|
|---|---|
|
Klopp |
Alonso |
|
x2 Bundesliga |
1x Bundesliga |
|
1x Premier League |
1x DFB Pokal |
|
1x Champions League |
1x German Super Cup |
|
1x DFB Pokal |
|
|
1x FA Cup |
|
|
2x League Cup |
|
|
1x Club World Cup |
|
|
1x UEFA Super Cup |
|
Alonso is still in the early stages of his managerial career, so it may sound harsh to compare their respective achievements, but Klopp is a serial winner who knows how to win the biggest trophies in England as a manager.
It remains to be seen whether or not Alonso’s system and tactics will translate to English football, particularly after he lasted less than one season at Real Madrid after his move from Bayer Leverkusen.
Klopp has proven that he can manage and win trophies in multiple countries, including England, and would be the perfect replacement to come in for Slot, should the club make a change this summer.
It now remains to be seen whether or not there is a realistic chance of the German tactician making a surprise return to Anfield at the end of the season.
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