‘Under Pressure’—Arne Slot’s Chances of Liverpool Sack Rated by Steven Gerrard

Slot’s future is complicated by the availability of former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.

Arne Slot’s future has been discussed by Steven Gerrard. | Catherine Ivill-AMA/Getty Images/TNT Sports

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard declared that Arne Slot is “under pressure” but agreed with reports which claimed that the Reds boss is not facing any immediate threat of dismissal.

Slot steered Liverpool into the Champions League last 16 with a 6–0 annihilation of Qarabağ on Wednesday night, yet questions still persist over his tenure after a run of five wins from just 18 Premier League fixtures.

“I think he is under pressure, for sure,” Gerrard mused in his role as a TNT Sports pundit in midweek. “I think there is a large section of the Liverpool fans that are very frustrated. I think some have had enough.”

However, the iconic former captain reasoned that this pressure is “more external” than internal, siding with a subsequent report from The Athletic which insists that Slot retains the full backing of Liverpool’s hierarchy.

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Why Does Slot Justify Internal Support From Liverpool?

Arne Slot has some defensive issues to deal with. | Catherine Ivill-AMA/Getty Images

Since the first Merseyside derby of the season, a 2–1 win for Liverpool which represented their fifth successive league victory to start the defence of their Premier League crown, it has all gone wrong. The Reds boast just 21 points from their subsequent 18 top-flight games—Everton can lay claim to 26.

Over a time span which represents almost half a full league campaign, Liverpool boast the 12th-best record in the Premier League. They have conceded three goals on five separate occasions, almost run their most legendary player of the modern era out of the club and were even beaten by a Manchester United team led by Ruben Amorim.

Yet, Gerrard was so confident that Liverpool’s owners will stick by their man because of what has gone before. “I think they would want to give the manager, on the back of last season, and any manager for that point, as much support, and they would want to be extremely strong for Arne Slot during this tough time, try and give him the opportunity to get the team out of it and fix the issues that they have got,” the retired midfielder reasoned.

Only one Premier League-winning manager in the history of the competition has been sacked during the defence of the title they won—and Roberto Mancini was just two games away from seeing out the 2012–13 campaign before he fell out with the club’s hierarchy.

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Liverpool’s Premier League Struggles

Statistic	Value	Premier League Rank
Non-Penalty Expected Goals For	34.8	5th
Non-Penalty Expected Goals Against	24.2	3rd
Set-Piece Goals For	5	Joint 17th
Set-Piece Goals Against	14	19th

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This is a key point even a decade on. Amorim and Enzo Maresca both left United and Chelsea this season after a breakdown in relations with their paymasters. There appears to be no such fallout between Slot and Liverpool’s powerbrokers.

“I think also, knowing [sporting director] Richard Hughes a little bit and [CEO of football] Michael Edwards a bit more, they would want to be strong and rally around the manager,” Gerrard argued. “I think that’s what Liverpool have done historically.

“They are not really a club that makes a lot of changes, so I think the pressure’s more external than internal.”

The Athletic insists that Hughes and Edwards have not yet overlooked Slot’s heroics in years gone by. “The pressure is real but he’s not on the brink.”

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Who Could Liverpool Replace Slot With?

Xabi Alonso was relieved of his duties after the Super Cup defeat. | Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images

This issue for Slot is that there is such a glaringly obvious candidate to replace him already waiting in the wings and eyeing up a Premier League move. Xabi Alonso has been a target for Liverpool in the past and a failure to impress under the unique demands of Real Madrid may not greatly impact his reputation in the eyes of an analytic outfit like the Reds.

For all the wild speculation of dressing room rifts and personality clashes, Alonso finished his Real Madrid career with 24 wins from 34 games, with just six defeats. By way of comparison, Hansi Flick boasted the exact same record from his first 34 matches at the helm of Barcelona, yet was permitted to remain in his post before winning a domestic treble. According to an embittered Kylian Mbappé who was sad to see his manager sacked: “He left before the titles were won.”

The Premier League title which Slot won last season may very well spare him this term, yet whether that period of grace extends over the summer will be at the mercy of his results over the coming months.

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