Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola once said that football "is a game of mistakes", but for Liverpool in 2025/26, the errors have been too costly, and Arne Slot's side have been unable to deal with the damage.
The champions have been unable to muster enough form to even call themselves contenders this season, and mistakes have littered a campaign that has been damaging and disappointing, if not disastrous.
Liverpool will probably scrape their way into the Champions League, but there's no question about the severity of the drop-off under Slot's management this term. It cannot happen again, something that skipper Virgil van Dijk put in no uncertain terms after last weekend's 3-2 defeat against Manchester United in the Premier League.
Liverpool duo Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz
That's 19 losses in all competitions this season, the most in a decade for Liverpool. Is Slot the right man to turn this around? That's a debate which has split opinion on Merseyside, and while FSG have given the head coach their backing, they may yet move for a replacement in a month's time.
Who FSG could replace Slot with at Liverpool
Liverpool fans are yearning for Jurgen Klopp, and while, after nine years, it was probably the right time for the legendary German to leave at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, Slot now has a tenuous hold on his position in spite of lifting the Premier League title last year.
The difference, however, is that Klopp took an average, struggling side and reshaped them into world-beaters. Now Liverpool's superstar squad is in a state of retroregression.
Jurgen Klopp's First Liverpool XI
Tottenham 0-0 Liverpool (17/10/2015)
(GK) - Simon Mignolet
(RB) - Nathaniel Clyne
(CB) - Martin Skrtel
(CB) - Mamadou Sakho
(LB) - Alberto Moreno
(CM) - Lucas Leiva
(CM) - Emre Can
(RW) - James Milner
(AM) - Adam Lallana
(LW) - Philippe Coutinho
(ST) - Divock Origi
Spaniards Andoni Iraola and Xabi Alonso are both available this summer and they are both on Liverpool's radar, but maybe recent reports are barking down the wrong tree, with FSG angling for a repeat of that iconic Klopp appointment in 2015.
When the German decided to part with the Anfield side, a number of candidates were shortlisted. Among them, Stuttgart manager Sebastian Hoeness, who has been on sporting director Richard Hughes' radar as Slot's tenure enters a tailspin.
sebastian-hoeness-newcastle-stutgart
As recently as March, it was revealed that Hoeness, 43, had become a leading contender to take over from Slot if FSG decided to bite the bullet.
Liverpool haven't exactly made headway over the past few months, so there's every chance that interest in the German coach could be revisited.
Why Hoeness can be Liverpool's new Klopp
Hoeness brings a passionate, firebrand kind of energy to the pitch. He's not Klopp, but he is an admirer of the former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund manager's career.
Stuttgart have achieved great things under his wing. Hoeness' side actually finished above Bayern Munich in 2023/24, second to Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen, and last year, he won the DFB-Pokal, which is the German version of the FA Cup).
Superstar signings such as Florian Wirtz have flattered to deceive under Slot's wing, but Hoeness could bring a fresh, direct and intense strategy that might cater to his playmaking compatriot's quick creative style.
florian-wirtz-liverpool-everton
Striker Ermedin Demirovic even said of the rising managerial star that he is one of the very best in the business, asserting that “I don’t see anyone who is better than him or under whom I would prefer to train."
Having been sounded out by Manchester United in the past, Liverpool won't want to let this one slip through their fingers. Though the FSG hierarchy are reluctant to sack Slot after appointing him with such faith only two years ago, there's no question that this season has been catastrophically bad, unacceptable.
By returning to the gegenpressing methods that have become Liverpool's identity over the past decade, the board would not only get the fans back on the train, but they would find that the players are refreshed, fitter and more focused under a stricter and more taxing schedule. This, if adhered to, would yield big results.
Hoeness, a flexible 4-2-3-1 manager, has his team pressing in Klopp-esque fashion, but he is his own man, and he would be the perfect, shrewd pick to replace Slot this summer, should push come to shove.
Jurgen Klopp Liverpool finals Related
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Liverpool's head coach is under even more pressure after falling to defeat against Manchester United in the Premier League.