**Arne Slot was relieved of his duties at Liverpool earlier this year, and a big new claim from journalist Jonathan Northcroft may highlight why that happened!**
The Dutchman will always be remembered fondly by Reds fans for winning the Premier League title in 2024/25, but last season was woeful.
It was the right decision to sack Slot at the end of the campaign, with Andoni Iraola now brought in to hopefully oversee the start of a great new era at Liverpool.
Last season, a lack of fitness was evident on the pitch, with the Reds far too often outrun by opponents, looking a far cry from Jurgen Klopp’s time in charge.
According to a damning claim from [_The Times_](https://www.thetimes.com/sport/football/article/jurgen-klopp-pep-guardiola-premier-league-n26stj9dp)‘ Northcroft, training sessions often started well into the day, and not at acceptable intensity levels for a Premier League team.
He states that “preparation for sessions was so painstaking Liverpool’s players could arrive at the training ground at 10am but not be out on the grass until 12.30pm”, adding that they had “first undergone meetings, gym work and time in a dedicated pre-training gathering space called the “Green Room”, which might involve light exercises some viewed as fripperies, like throwing a basketball about.”
The report goes on to add that “training could be significantly below match intensity”, whereas Klopp’s approach was to “train at 95-100 per cent every day and then perform at 80 per cent – or rather play against opponents who could only reach 80 per cent of the levels his team had pushed themselves to on the training pitch.”
**A damning indictment of Arne Slot’s time at Liverpool**
---------------------------------------------------------
As mentioned, Slot will always deserve praise for the title win, but in his second year at Liverpool, he and his backroom team looked increasingly out of their depth, and this new claim is eye-watering.
The Reds looked an unfit team, playing a part in their struggles, and it is no coincidence that this lethargic approach in training then copied itself when matches arrived.
Slot clearly felt it was the right way to go about things, but it didn’t work at all in the end, and Iraola’s high-octane style is far more in line with Klopp’s.
Here’s hoping we are watching Liverpool outrun opponents all season long and beyond, and not the other way round.