"Well, I understand the clamour because Xabi is a Liverpool favourite," Barnes told the Liverpool Echo. "But did he not fail at Real Madrid? Was he actually a successful manager? Of course, don't get me wrong, I think Xabi is great and he did a good job. But he got sacked by Real Madrid for failure, didn't he? That's why they got rid of him. Of course we do like the clamour for ex-players. Steven Gerrard’s been mentioned before. So I understand the way fans are. But this is the way fans are. They're very fickle."
Barnes believes that replacing Slot with Alonso would only create a cycle of instability at the club. He argued that the success Slot achieved in his debut season, where he secured the Premier League title, should buy him significantly more credit than he is currently receiving from the disgruntled fanbase.
"We won the league with Arne Slot and all of a sudden we want to sack him?" Barnes added. "If he then goes and Alonso comes, suppose Alonso fails in his first six months or first year, are we going to say sack him and bring somebody else in? I always support the managers, whoever they are, because they come to the club because of their success, because they're good managers, and they have to be given time. Jurgen Klopp was 20 points off the top when he first came, but we stuck with him. So I think Xabi will be a great manager one day, but I want Arne Slot to stay."