Arne Slot's Future at Liverpool: A Season of Scrutiny
Arne Slot walked into Liverpool last summer and won the Premier League at the first attempt. Less than a year later, his future is being openly debated, his team are out of every cup competition, and the mood around Anfield has shifted from celebration to scrutiny.
A 4-0 aggregate defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals has slammed the door on silverware this season. The League Cup run ended meekly in the fourth round against Crystal Palace. The FA Cup journey stopped at the last eight, Manchester City doing the damage.
Now Liverpool sit fifth in the Premier League, clinging to a four-point cushion over Chelsea in the race for next season’s Champions League. The problem? Chelsea still have to visit Anfield, and Liverpool must travel to Everton, Manchester United and Aston Villa. The margin for error is thin. The noise around Slot is getting louder.
FSG stand firm – for now
There has been talk that Slot could be dismissed at the end of the campaign, but according to David Ornstein, Fenway Sports Group intend to stick with the Dutchman regardless of how the final weeks unfold. Stability, not upheaval, is the plan.
Results will test that resolve. Performances have dipped, confidence has frayed, and the injury list has just taken a brutal addition. Hugo Ekitike has been ruled out for the rest of this season and a significant chunk of the next with a ruptured Achilles. For a side already searching for fluency in attack, losing the France striker strips away another option at a critical time.
If the slide continues and the owners do eventually decide a change is unavoidable, the fanbase has made its preference clear. Two names dominate the conversation: Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard. Both are former midfield generals at Anfield, both carry emotional weight. One, though, is emerging as the clear favourite.
Pennant’s verdict: Alonso first, and a ruthless midfield reset
Jermaine Pennant, who shared a dressing room with both Alonso and Gerrard during his three-year spell at Liverpool, believes Slot will be given time and can still make it work. But if the axe does fall, his choice is emphatic.
He told SPORTbible, on behalf of RightBet, that Alonso would be the man to go for: a coach who knows the club, understands the supporters and has just delivered a stunning title win with Bayer Leverkusen. That Bundesliga triumph, Pennant argues, shows exactly why Alonso would be the preferred candidate if the Liverpool board decide to move in a new direction.
And he does not think Alonso would arrive quietly.
Pennant expects the Spaniard to reshape the heart of the team. In his view, Cody Gakpo would be vulnerable, and Alexis Mac Allister could also be allowed to leave if a strong offer came in. Alonso, he believes, would demand more energy and legs in midfield, a more relentless engine room than the current mix provides.
Gakpo, Pennant notes, is not a firm fans’ favourite and has struggled for consistent form. In a squad that will need trimming and refreshing, he sees the Dutch forward and Mac Allister as the likeliest to be pushed towards the exit first.
Curtis Jones, though, is a different case. Pennant acknowledges there may be a debate about his level, but points to his status as a local lad. That connection to the city and the stands still carries weight. In his eyes, Jones would be one to keep around the squad.
Blame, excuses and a brutal season
The uncertainty is not limited to the dugout. Chief executive Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes are also moving into the final year of their contracts. Three of the most powerful figures at Anfield are, on paper, edging towards decision time.
Pennant, though, sees Slot as the most likely of the trio to remain in place. He believes the board will factor in the turbulence of the season: major players leaving, injuries, and the emotional impact of Diogo Jota’s passing. All of it has framed a campaign that has veered far from the script expected of reigning champions.
Even so, he is unimpressed by Slot’s public complaints about officiating and decisions going against Liverpool. The manager has pointed to “so many decisions” that have hurt his side. Pennant has little sympathy for that line.
Every team, he argues, suffers from VAR calls, contentious penalties, red cards and injuries over the course of a season. Liverpool are not unique. To lean on that as an explanation is, in his eyes, an excuse for how poor this title defence has been.
The numbers back up the sense of underachievement. Heavy spending, no trophies, and an early exit from every competition. For a club of Liverpool’s stature, Pennant calls it close to a worst-case scenario.
He is clear on where responsibility lies. You cannot pin it all on one person, he says, but the manager carries the heaviest share. Slot chooses the style, the tactics, the personnel. It is his job to extract maximum performance, to maintain the club’s “DNA” on the pitch, and he has fallen short of last season’s standards.
Players are not spared either. Pennant points to a stark drop-off from several key figures. The gap between last year’s levels and this year’s output is, in his words, “night and day”. Too many have failed to step up, too many have drifted through games.
For him, the blame is collective – but the responsibility starts at the top. Slot must rally the group, pick the right players for the right games, and re-establish a style that allows individuals to thrive. Only then will the players respond, the results turn, and the speculation quieten.
If he cannot, the conversation around Xabi Alonso will move from fantasy to inevitability.
