This season has been grim at Liverpool, but the club’s hierarchy have a theory that explains their unwavering backing of Arne Slot.
We’re in April with no silverware to play for and a tenuous grasp on the Premier League top five, so it’s fair to say this season has been a failure. To deny that would be to deny reality.
But Liverpool have a kinder stance with regards to this campaign. They look at the mitigating circumstances both on and off the pitch, and have made a rather bold prediction about the future that might land with some — but certainly not with the more critical fans.
Is a fifth-place finish enough to warrant Arne Slot remaining Liverpool manager?
Arne Slot during the Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final match between Manchester City and Liverpool
Credit: Shaun Brooks/CameraSport/Getty Images
Liverpool believe time will heal the wounds of a difficult 2025/26 season
According to The Independent reporter Miguel Delaney, there is a running theory in the boardroom at Liverpool that this campaign won’t be one that sticks in the collective memory as the failure it clearly has been.
The reasons for that concern everything that has happened at Anfield in recent months.
He said on The Football Show: “It had been emphasised to me that Slot is expected to stay for the summer. There is a feeling that in time, this season will be looked on a bit more favourably. There were so many challenges and issues that at this point, we don’t need to mention the tragedy of Diogo Jota.
“But it’s obviously one of the factors there, which is strange to say about the actual human tragedy, but in a football sense, I mean.
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“So they do think it will be seen. Obviously, there is a question of actually getting Champions League football, but at the moment, from what I hear, there is a sense that it will be seen more kindly with the removal of time.”
On the Jota aspect, it’s a delicate topic and one that the club and fans alike have been hesitant to use as justification for how the side has struggled. No one would deny the obvious emotional impact of such a tragedy, but it feels wrong to bring it up as a sporting factor.
That being said, it’s a fair assessment to make in the right context.
The other mitigating factors include the plethora of injuries that have been sustained, the loss of key players like Luis Diaz and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and the teething issues Slot has faced with trying to rejig the system that was so successful last year.
Liverpool FC Training Session And Press Conference - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD6
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
These are all things that can impact a season, but they don’t excuse some of what we have seen. FSG seem to be of the opinion that opinion will shift dramatically come the end of the campaign, but their theory relies on a positive run-in.
If we don’t see that, I wouldn’t be so sure that all will be forgotten.
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