Despite struggling hugely this season, a new report from reliable journalist Sam Wallace suggests Arne Slot could remain in charge of Liverpool this summer.
Slot is a man who remains under big pressure to keep his job, having overseen a disastrous campaign that threatens to end with no trophies and potentially no Champions League football next season.
The Dutchman is an increasingly polarising figure, with some left baffled by him changing Liverpool’s formation for the 2-0 defeat away to Paris Saint-Germain, even though he tried to justify it after the game:
“They have pace from everywhere, all the pitch, so it doesn’t just matter where you look you see pace and incredible pace. [Achraf] Hakimi and Nuno Mendes are unbelievable offensive threats apart from all the others. So, we played them with Jeremie Frimpong and with Milos Kerkez, so that was the thought behind it.
“And that way I thought we could try to press them really high and aggressive because Jeremie and Milos are also two players… if you press Hakimi and if you press Nuno Mendes they play and they start to run more. They don’t start to run, by the way, they start to sprint and actually it’s not even sprinting, it’s just a level above sprinting and you have to cope with that.”
But despite so many Liverpool fans wanting a change in the dugout, The Telegraph‘s Wallace reports that FSG believes Slot “will lead the club next season despite another defeat on Wednesday night.”
He adds that the “consensus is that Slot deserves to start next season, and that the transition from Jurgen Klopp in the summer of 2024 was not as simple as last season’s Premier League title indicated.”
Would keeping Arne Slot be an error by Liverpool and FSG?
This is an update that is unlikely to please many, with a big chunk of the fanbase completely losing faith in Slot after such a dispiriting season.
The players don’t appear to be performing for him on the pitch, the tactics on show are consistently head-scratching, and the squad doesn’t look as fit as it has in the past.
Granted, showing faith in Slot would be refreshing in a modern game with little patience, but with Xabi Alonso potentially waiting in the wings, a change is required.
The current boss can just about save his skin if he actually wins the Champions League, but that feels incredibly unlikely at this point.