Pundits have been giving their verdict on Arne Slot’s Liverpool future after The Reds suffered a catastrophic home defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest on Saturday to leave them 11 points behind leaders Arsenal in the defence of their title, and they are all saying the same thing.
The Reds started the new season in spectacular fashion, winning their first seven games in all competitions, but it’s been largely downhill from there – albeit more on a domestic level.
The loss to Forest made it six goals conceded in their last two games without finding the net themselves, raising serious questions over Slot‘s future, despite the Dutchman leading Liverpool to their record-equalling 20th English top-flight title in his maiden campaign.
Things have been different in the Champions League, where Slot’s men have won three of their four outings so far, with Wednesday night’s clash against PSV a perfect game to try and get a positive result
That clash is followed by Premier League outings against West Ham, Sunderland and Leeds – a run of fixtures that could be pivotal to Slot keeping his job at Anfield.
And, speaking about the Dutchman’s future, four pundits all came to the same conclusion…
Gary Neville
The Sky Sports pundit said: “There’s no way that Arne Slot should be in danger or losing his job. I’ve heard murmurs; you go on social media and all that nonsense, forget that.
“Some Liverpool fans will say, ‘don’t talk about my football club like that’, but come on, let’s have some sense here. This is a really good manager, who’s a brilliant front man for the club as well in the way he handles himself. He’s got real class.
“For me, he’s having a really bad time. I think he’s got to somehow reverse back down the road quite quickly and do something different, intervene and sort out what he thinks might be some really difficult decisions staring him in the face, maybe give the players a little bit of help with the make-up of the teams he is picking.
“I love the style of play, by the way. I love it when they go punch for punch, but when you’re going punch for punch with teams and you’re not coming out on top, you do have to change that. You do have to do something different. I think the players will be expecting that of him, never mind the media and the fans.
“For Arne Slot, I think it’s a real challenging moment. He’s going to come under pressure, people are going to start saying the fatal words of, ‘is he in trouble?’ But let’s not get too carried away with that.”
⬇️ SLOT LATEST ⬇️
Liverpool journalist reveals if FSG are planning to sack Arne Slot whose ‘arrogance is killing’ Reds
Title-winning manager to Liverpool mooted ‘a possibility’ as FSG give Arne Slot strict deadline
Stephen Warnock
Speaking to The Echo: “No, no I don’t [think he’s at risk]. I know there has been a lot of talk on social media from fans but I think with everything that has gone on over the summer, the new influx of players that have come into the football club, I think he’s got enough in the bank to turn things around.
“It’s a difficult job, if you lose games, it’s always tough and it’s always trying to find solutions, you have to make big decisions along the way but I don’t see him getting sacked anytime soon.
“However, if you go on to lose your next five it does become difficult.”
Igor Biscan
The former Reds midfielder added: “There is pressure, but for every manager at that level, there is always pressure.
“I don’t think his job is in question. Even if he doesn’t win the league, just by doing what he did last year, after what happened before he arrived and how difficult his job was, it was exceptional.
“Everybody was saying it would be extremely difficult for him to really continue what Jurgen Klopp had done before him.
“He is a quality manager, and he deserves a lot of credit and he needs time. There are so many new players, and you need time to make them work together. I’m really sure that they will start winning again very soon.”
Martin Keown
Speaking to BBC Sport, Keown said: “We have to give credit to Forest for what they are doing but yes, the wheels are coming off now for Arne Slot.
“Obviously, it was Jurgen Klopp’s team, and he has tried to come in and make changes, but he has spent £450m on players, and they are going backwards. They have simply been undone. Whether it’s a crisis I don’t know, it’s certainly a major problem for the manager to go six defeats from seven. Unthinkable.
“I don’t think you can win the league one year and get sacked the next. It’s remarkable what we are seeing with Liverpool. Their fall from grace and to lose this many games at the start of the season, it is unthinkable really from this time last season.”
Get the inside story first by joining our TEAMtalk Facebook channel to receive the latest breaking and exclusive news straight into your Messenger inbox.
Latest Liverpool news: Perfect Salah successor; Semenyo chase latest
First up, as Mohamed Salah continues to flounder with Liverpool manager Arne Slot urged to make a “big decision” on the Egyptian King, the perfect signing for Fenway Sports Group (FSG) shone yet again at the weekend and demonstrated once more why he would be the perfect successor to the former Chelsea attacker at Anfield.
Elsewhere, Trent Alexander-Arnold made a rare start for Real Madrid in their 2-2 draw with Elche in LaLiga on Sunday, and the local media have made observations about the former Liverpool star that the Anfield faithful will be all too familiar with.
And finally, Tottenham are primed to launch a January assault for Bournemouth star Antoine Semenyo, but TEAMtalk understands that Manchester United could have a potential trump card in the race, while Liverpool are also poised to strike.