Liverpool manager Arne Slot has got off relatively easy from the Dutch media. Despite pundits in the Netherlands having tongues as sharp as knives, and not being afraid to use them, Slot has rarely been a target.
There have been some attacks, but not as many as, say, Erik ten Hag and others went through.
That’s been partly down to Slot’s first season success at Anfield. Winning the Premier League title provides a level of protection, but even then the odd Dutch attack would have been expected. It’s just what happens.
Now it would appear there’s chance to catch up for lost time. Slot and Liverpool continue their mutual struggle, with the Reds down in sixth position. Arsenal are 14 points ahead and any realistic hope of retaining the Premier League title has surely gone.
Indeed, now the mission must be to qualify for the Champions League, and for Slot, on a personal level, to keep his job. Murmurs of discontent have grown into outright demands for his exit from some, and now he’s being pulled into typical Dutch negativity.
Dutch journalist Valentijn Driessen has even suggested Liverpool may have made their decision already.
Why Liverpool decision could have been made already
Liverpool manager Arne Slot
Italy, Milan, 2025 12 09: Arne Slot. FC Inter vs Liverpool FC, UCL 2025-2026 Matchday 6 at San Siro Stadium
Quoted by SoccerNews, he brought an example: “In December 2015, rumours circulated that José Mourinho would succeed Louis van Gaal at Manchester United in the summer of 2016. Van Gaal laughed it off, didn’t believe it, and spoke of fantasists who wanted to make his life miserable. In May 2016, on the day he won the FA Cup with Manchester United, a completely stunned Van Gaal was summarily dismissed. Shortly after, Mourinho stepped in as his replacement, having been hired six months earlier.
“Only with results in the Premier League and Champions League can Slot perhaps survive or silence the rumours about Alonso. But it’s also possible that the Liverpool management has already made a decision and Slot is in his final months.”
A dig was also sent to the manager over his apparent shock after he was asked about Xabi Alonso links. Driessen pointed out Slot wasn’t so shocked by rumours when he was in the Netherlands and they flattered him.
“It’s as if Slot had never been asked about the rumours before. When he was linked with Tottenham Hotspur at Feyenoord and later Liverpool. Back then, he didn’t find questions about it strange. It actually flattered his ego.”