Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has been speaking about his options and has enraged Reds supporters with his blunt remarks about one of his players
11:33, 16 Jan 2026
Arne Slot
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Arne Slot was brutally honest about the star during his press conference(Image: )
Arne Slot has enraged Liverpool fans after publicly telling one of his players that he has "better options" than him.
Conor Bradley suffered a season-ending blow away against Arsenal last week when the Northern Ireland defender sustained a severe knee injury before the controversial incident with Gunners star Gabriel Martinelli. This leaves Slot with only Jeremie Frimpong and centre-half Joe Gomez as senior choices for the right-back role, unless he selects someone out of position.
However, he does have Scottish right-back Calvin Ramsay, 22, who arrived at Anfield from Aberdeen in summer 2022, but has managed just a single start across more than three years at the club. That came in October's Carabao Cup loss to Crystal Palace, when a heavily rotated side suffered a comprehensive 3-0 home defeat.
A group of soccer players on a field, with one player receiving medical attention from team members, while others are standing nearby, and spectators are visible in the background.
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Conor Bradley will miss the rets of the season(Image: AP)
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Slot has occasionally deployed midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back this term when both Frimpong and Bradley were unavailable. While Ramsay is viewed as a possibility for what has proved a troublesome position this season, the Dutch boss insists the young Scotsman won't be called upon immediately as the title holders prepare to welcome Burnley in Saturday afternoon's Premier League encounter.
"It is great for Calvin where he is," Slot said. "He came back to the Under-21s half a year ago and everyone there is hoping for a big chance and it is a big chance he is having now to come to the first team," reports the Liverpool Echo.
"When someone is really unlucky with injuries, there is always someone who benefits and Calvin is one of those. But I still think I have better options to play but I am running out of them.
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(Image: Getty Images)
"He has shown in that one game, against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, that he is good enough to be in and around our players, then you have to wait for your chance. Sometimes you have to wait for a chance to show this to the rest of the world but at this moment I have in my opinion better options."
Reds fans weren't too happy with Slot's comments, with one posting on X: "My god talk about inspiring a young player. FFS can someone on Liverpool media side give him a few pointers of dos and don'ts."
Another said: "It's horrendous man management TBH. Call it Dutch straightforwardness but in professional sport it's just callous and unnecessary..."
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"This is awful, imagine how Ramsay feels hearing that Slot thinks he's a worse option than a midfielder," a second said. "Man management is terrible and the fact he'd rather weaken our midfield by playing Szobo at RB is a disgrace."
And another added: "Literally everything that clown says makes me dislike him even more. Can he never just praise a player?"
While another fan commented: "Surely he never said that. Talk about putting the lad down. He might just need him at some point."