Arne Slot has been backed to continue to pull through the toughest spell of his Liverpool reign so far
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has led his side on a seven-match unbeaten run after a dreadful sequence of defeats
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has led his side on a seven-match unbeaten run after a dreadful sequence of defeats
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(Image: Oli SCARFF / AFP via Getty Images)
When the Liverpool players and staff look back on 2025 they will not only reflect on the highest of highs, but also the most devastating of lows.
The scenes that accompanied them sealing and then lifting the Premier League trophy will never be forgotten. They had given what supporters had waited 30 long years for.
Sadly, what also will never be forgotten is the moment they found out that their beloved team-mate, Diogo Jota, had died in a car crash, along with his brother, Andre Silva, in July.
It’s hard to quantify what impact that may or may not have on the dressing room throughout the season. But it would be fair to imagine that it has given Arne Slot, who led the club to title glory in his debut campaign in charge, challenges he has never experienced before or would want to experience again.
And it’s against that backdrop that the Dutchman has endured what has been the first on-the-field crisis of his Anfield reign.
The late Premier League loss at bogey-side Crystal Palace in September not only halted the Reds’ 100% winning start to the season, it also set in motion a dreadful run of form that even led to questions over Slot’s future.
Those questions had been silenced somewhat by a much-needed unbeaten run, which now stands at seven matches in all competitions, the last four of which have been won, going into today's home clash with Leeds United.
But with Mohamed Salah away at the Africa Cup of Nations and injuries beginning to bite in an expensively assembled but relatively small playing squad, further evidence is needed before anyone would declare that the champions are back to their brilliant best.
But whatever happens during and after the busy festive and new year period, ex-Liverpool winger Bolo Zenden says his compatriot needs time.
“What you do as a club is that you look at a process,” said the former Netherlands international. “As long as the club can see there's certain progress within the squad, you can maybe give someone more time if the football is still good but the results are not.
“If there's a moment in time where you're not playing a certain way, imagine that maybe the situation within the dressing room is so poor, then you go a certain way where the club has to make a decision.
“At the same time, I think it was Steven Gerrard who said when it gets tough we stick together at Liverpool and of course Slot has done an amazing job last season with how they played and what they've won. With everything that they've done you would suggest that he's capable of turning things around again.
“But the only thing that keeps you in the job are results. It's important to get things back on track the sooner the better.”
Had the Reds kept on losing - they lost nine in 12 before stopping the rot with a 2-0 triumph at West Ham United - then the speculation over Slot’s future would have intensified.
It never got to the stage where potential successors were openly touted but the suggestion that Zenden’s former team-mate, the Anfield great Gerrard, could act as an interim should the ex-Feyenoord boss lose his job was offered.
“We have to look at two things here,” said Zenden. “Steven Gerrard is a legend. He's a massive player. He's been a manager already on a few occasions and has done particularly well with Rangers.
“But to talk about a replacement as long as someone's in the job, I don't feel that’s right. Arne Slot does not deserve that. He deserves respect. People should not talk about this kind of thing while he’s still very much in the job.”
It’s a job that was made harder in December by Salah’s bombshell interview in the mixed zone at Elland Road, where he had been an unused substitute for the second time in three games, all of which he had started on the bench.
Salah accused the club of ‘throwing him under the bus’ and claimed he no longer had a relationship with Slot.
The pair held peace talks the following week and, after being dropped for the Champions League win at Inter, the Egyptian was recalled to the squad for his final appearance for Liverpool before heading to AFCON.
That ended well with Salah stepping off the bench to set up two-goal hero Hugo Ekitike to seal a 2-0 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion, during which the Kop showed their love for both player and manager.
“First of all, Mohamed Salah has been enormous for Liverpool,” said Zenden to the ECHO via football betting site BetVictor. “He's been enormous for the Premier League too.
“He's shown over the years what he's capable of but you're only as good as your last game and we have to also look at Salah's performances this season. They haven't been like they've been in the past, which is fine. This is normal because in the end we're all humans and there's always a moment where maybe things aren't going your way.
“So then of course it's up to the manager to try and obviously make the best of the team’s performances and it might happen that even if you're the better player or the best player that you might not be in the team as a starter. I think that's very hard for Salah to take, which is normal, once again.
“It's normal to be disappointed about your situation. But then to go to the next level is where as a player you come out in public and criticise the club or whoever it might be then, then you know you're moving on thin ice because that creates a situation where you open certain doors and it seems like you're actually trying to force your way out.
“That's never nice because I think for both of them, Salah and Liverpool, what you would want is for Salah to leave the club through the front door once that day comes, not in a way that it’s turning out at the moment.
“Salah’s comments obviously hurt and it doesn't really fit the bill at Liverpool but the decision was made now and Salah was not in the squad to play in Milan.
“I'm sure that the manager didn’t make this decision on his own because that's something that will probably be decided together with the people in charge at the club because everything that is happening will have an effect on the future of Salah and of Liverpool itself.”