The ECHO's Liverpool FC correspondent, Paul Gorst, assesses the decision to relieve Arne Slot of his duties at Anfield
Arne Slot was sacked as Liverpool boss on Saturday
Arne Slot was sacked as Liverpool boss on Saturday
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It's easy to suggest that sacking Arne Slot after two years as head coach was a decision that saw Liverpool abandon their famously data-led operation.
It's convenient to claim that the increasingly overwhelming supporter sentiment has triumphed against the raw numbers and the analytics regarding Slot's suitability to continue on.
But the truth is, the facts and figures behind Fenway Sports Group's decision over the weekend only complemented the increasing sense among the fanbase that a change was needed to re-energise the club.
Even at surface level the weight of the numbers is revealing. Slot's side earned 24 fewer points than last time out, when they won the league title at a canter.
Their tally of 60 equalled their lowest return for a decade and you have to trawl back to 2012 for the last time they gathered fewer. The 12 league defeats equalled their worst since 2015 and they lost 20 across all competitions, including August's Community Shield.
And, by the end, there was no real need to dive too deeply into the broader statistics to justify ending Slot's tenure. Running stats, set-piece data and goals scored and conceded all showed a team that is way off where the demands currently sit at Liverpool. The poor quality of the football had been obvious to everyone for too long.
Despite all of that, Slot and his camp were of the belief that he would be staying put as recently as Friday evening. The head coach, as he felt emboldened to reveal publicly earlier this month, had never been given any indication that a difficult campaign would lead to his eventual dismissal.
The biggest reserves of sympathy for Slot, in fact, were held inside the club itself, and FSG felt, initially at least, that the regression could be explained by numerous factors beyond a simply being in possession of a coach who was suddenly operating out of his depth.
The Premier League title triumph of 2025, when Anfield was given two of its greatest ever days - when victory was confirmed in April before being celebrated in May - was proof enough for those who continued to champion Slot and his virtues behind the scenes.
The dramatic dip in form of too many key players at once, the difficulties new signings had adjusting, injuries to important parts of the squad and, perhaps chiefly, the harrowing impact of Diogo Jota's death, were all weighed up as reasons for why Slot would be able to get a better handle on things from pre-season onwards.
But such was the level of unrest that it felt like it was a decision that was simply being kicked down the road. Cutting ties now, less than a week after a tough season has concluded, affords the club the space and time to get Slot's replacement right, rather than having to do so mid-season when the games are coming thick and fast.
When Jurgen Klopp told FSG's president Mike Gordon of his plans to leave in November of 2023, it gave the key decision makers in the Fenway fold the opportunity to take a step back and plan for the future. The result was a total reupholstering of their football operations department, with Michael Edwards coming back on board in a new role as the group's CEO of football.
Richard Hughes, then of Bournemouth, was then headhunted by Edwards to become sporting director before the hard yards were put in to find a successor for Klopp, whose bombshell news was made public in late January of 2024.
Back then, FSG had a lot of time to plan and to plot and to strategise a way forward for the long-term health of the club. And it took the best part of six months before it was decided that Slot was the best fit for Liverpool, post-Klopp.
So the somewhat surprising decision to relieve Slot of his duties while technically the season was still ongoing - just hours before the Champions League final - means the the club have given themselves ample time to take a closer look at the runners and riders before preparations for next season really ramp up.
It was a decision that FSG didn't really want to make and Slot's efforts to bring coach Etienne Reijnen to the club at the second attempt, following work permit issues in 2024, was enough to surmise that the Dutchman was genuinely planning for a third term on Merseyside.
But all of that went to the wall when the end-of-season appraisal with Hughes decreed that a change in direction was needed. It's no surprise to hear those on the inside speak of the need for a more front-footed and aggressive style of football.
Slot had always prized control and poise after intense pressing structures and the 'kill them with passes' he bellowed around Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field in one of his early training sessions on the job was indicative of his approach.
It was one that worked a treat as so many players gained confidence from a change in voice within the Anfield dugout. Players like Ryan Gravenberch, Luis Diaz and Ibrahima Konate grew in stature and importance, while Mohamed Salah turned in arguably the greatest individual Premier League season with 29 goals and 18 assists.
This time out, however, Liverpool's prosaic style hasn't worked and it's been increasingly difficult to identify precisely what this team excels at. Their weaknesses, however, were highlighted and exposed by many teams across the course of a chastening campaign.
If the sacking of Slot comes as a shock, internal talk of injecting more urgency into what has morphed into a listless brand of football is less of a revelation. Andoni Iraola, as a result, has emerged as a front runner in the early going to succeed the Dutchman.
The Spanish coach leaves Bournemouth having secured a sixth-place finish with the Cherries, who have one of the smallest revenues in the league. Their ability to recruit studiously while extracting top dollar for their departing stars has allowed them to punch well above their weight in recent times.
The likes of Dean Hujisen, Illia Zabarnyi, Antoine Semenyo and Liverpool's Milos Kerkez have all been brought in before being sold for considerable profit in the last two years and Iraola has established his side as one of the hardest-running sides in the top flight.
Hughes recruited Iraola in 2023 and knows all about his strengths and abilities. Interestingly, it was reported earlier this week that the 43-year-old had broken off talks with AC Milan and shunned Crystal Palace interest in favour of holding out for either the Bayer Leverkusen or Liverpool posts.
It was a morsel of information that sounded odd at the time given the widely-held belief that Slot would be given the chance to turn things around on Merseyside, but given Hughes and Iraola's previous working relationship, adding two and two together might just make four on this occasion.
Iraola's camp, when contacted by the ECHO, have remained tight lipped so far on that prospect but Liverpool are wasting little time scouring the market for the man to replace Slot. A shortlist is currently being refined before the the best suited coaches are formally engaged with.
Iraola is almost certain to be one of those but the appointment of Slot, two years ago, proves that Liverpool, on Edwards's watch, are not averse to a left-field appointment.