Arne Slot has come out swinging when faced with questions over his future, and the Reds boss is finding solace in the Champions League this season
Arne Slot's Reds are on course to reach the last-16 of the Champions League
Arne Slot's Reds are on course to reach the last-16 of the Champions League(Image: UEFA via Getty Images)
View Image
If Arne Slot was comfortable enough laughing off questions over Xabi Alonso in Marseille on Tuesday night, the Liverpool boss came out swinging when job security was put to him in more general terms this week.
Slot, bizarrely, was asked as he faced the media at Orange Velodrome to preview the following evening's Champions League clash with Roberto de Zerbi's side if he had been in touch with Alonso, who is now without a job having been relieved of his duties at Real Madrid earlier this month.
The phrasing of the question may have been lost in translation somewhat from a reporter whose first language was not English but after initially seeing the funny side, Slot conceded it was "one of the weirdest" he had ever fielded as a coach.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk went one further, branding it "disrespectful" when he spoke to reporters after Wednesday's 3-0 win over the Ligue 1 side and even for many of those who feel Slot may never rescale the heights of his first year on Merseyside, the direct poser over Alonso was beyond the mark.
Asked more widely if he felt under pressure in an interview with TNT Sport to preview the game, Slot talked up his achievements on Merseyside, which, of course, included the Premier League title in his maiden campaign. It remains, regardless of the varying opinions on this year's trials and tribulations, a spectacular feat of coaching from the Dutchman and his staff.
"Because people don't expect that it is possible for me to be successful? That is news to me," Slot said. "But if you are one-and-a-half years in the job and you have won the league once at a club that has won it twice in 30 years then I am surprised to hear what you're saying."
Some, of course, have denounced the reply from Slot, claiming it was the sort of 'two-leagues-in-30-years' retort one might encounter from a rival fanbase in the nether regions of social media, but having been so openly quizzed on his credentials at a time when his team were on a 12-game unbeaten sequence - one that has been admittedly uninspiring at times - the Liverpool boss felt he was within his rights to highlight what he has brought to this club already.
A draw-laden start to 2026 in the Premier League was given the ideal tonic in France as Liverpool looked a more purposeful outfit in the final third while also defending as a unit and keeping an OM side who had scored 14 times in their last two games to very little on the night.
Alisson Becker was on hand to make a handful of smart saves but it was a game Liverpool deservedly won and the return of Mohamed Salah was also a welcome sight for a team who have, more generally, found it difficult to create high-value chances in the volume expected by a demanding fanbase of late.
Salah, on another day, would have returned two goals on his first start since November, while Hugo Ekitike could have had a hat-trick. That neither were even on the scoresheet bodes well generally.
And perhaps what should offer some green shoots of encouragement was another clean sheet in the Champions League. On the back of last month's 1-0 win at Inter, who suffered their first home defeat in the competition for three years as a result of that loss, the Reds followed it up with another defensively mature display in a hostile environment.
Throw in the clean sheet kept in the 1-0 win over Real Madrid, the blitzing of Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany and the hard-fought triumph over Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid and Slot may argue, with some justification, that his side are built for the Champions League this term.
Florian Wirtz, for example, was signed with a view to being the difference maker in the tightest of affairs at that level. At £116m, he will of course be expected to sprinkle the stardust all over the Premier League as well, but there has been a broad expectation that Europe would be where he showcased his best form in the early going at Anfield.
"Some of the criticism has been too harsh," says the legendary Steven Gerrard. "Give him the chance to pull the Liverpool team through this bad patch. When results aren't consistent in terms of winning, you expect tough questions and tough times.
"He will know the results have been inconsistent. He inherited a fantastic job and did an incredible job last year in winning the championship. For me it's important we don't have a short memory as well."
There has also been some frustration inside the club over the level of criticism for both Slot and some of the newer players, who have not been afforded as much time to adapt to the demands of a club the size of Liverpool for a variety of reasons.
Results, of course, have dictated much of that but the level of turnover this summer has meant that too many players have effectively been learning on the job at a time when they are still expected to dominate virtually every game.
The recent performances of Wirtz and an increasingly impressive Milos Kerkez have been hugely encouraging on that front, while Jeremie Frimpong's return to action in recent weeks, after close to four months out with hamstring issues, has been huge.
By referring to the campaign as a "transition phase", in that same TNT interview, Slot perhaps has not bought the patience he is seeking on the back of a historic spend of £450m but there is at least an alignment behind the scenes, he says, between sporting director Richard Hughes and club owners Fenway Sports Group.
"Yes, you can say [it was a more complete performance] but we could have done even better," said captain Virgil van Dijk. "To come here, to play in this atmosphere, against a De Zerbi team, we did very well and I am proud of the boys.
"But that is it. We got three points and now it is all about recovery and to be ready for Bournemouth at the weekend, it will be a very difficult one. It was a good result, a good game overall offensively and defensively and we have put ourselves in a very good spot to qualify in the top eight and that was the key. We are pleased."
Of course, to suggest Liverpool really have turned the corner, these sorts of complete performances need to be seen more regularly in the Premier League, where the development of the game has been to the champions' detriment this term.
The Reds are having to deal with fewer direct styles of football on the continent as opposed to domestically, where set-piece expertise and an ability to throw it long complement the more physical game-plans. That, far too often this term, has been Slot's undoing.
Showing there is a plan to counteract that while also allowing the more creative operators in the side the space to play their natural game will go a long way towards redressing the balance for a side who have drawn four in a row in the league.
That stuttering start to the calendar year means Slot and his side remain in a dog-fight with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United, to name just two, for a place in the Champions League qualification spots.
But the European Cup and its revamped format has been a balm this season. Next week allows them the chance to finish the job when Qarabag visit Anfield for the first time. Secure that and the road to Budapest suddenly won't look quite as long and winding.
FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE!All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page