The OFFICIAL Liverpool FC thread - Salah says goodbye

[gawa316]

I would put Szob in there as leader but definitely a lack of them now.

Think back to the days of Milner, Hendo, Virg, Robbo etc

[quit yo jibbajabba]

Agree to an extent

Even firmino gini mane, all strong characters

Ach I'm depressed again. Team of safties

[seafoid]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2026/04/08/arne-slot-defends-liverpool-tactics-we-are-in-survival-mode/

Liverpool want Arne Slot to remain manager next season
Owners believe Dutchman deserves to stay in charge; plus Van Dijk says 'unacceptable' form shows that it's the end of an era at Anfield



 Chief Football Writer.
Mike McGrath
 at Parc des Princes
Published 09 April 2026 12:24pm BST
Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group believes that Arne Slot will lead the club next season despite another defeat on Wednesday night and the manager's admission that the team are in survival mode.

The 2-0 loss to Paris St-Germain means Liverpool are on the precipice of Champions League elimination on Tuesday, with even match-going fans losing patience with Slot. Yet the expectation that Slot will be dismissed at the end of the season – or even earlier – is at odds with the mood from FSG in Boston and the British-based executives Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes.

Advertisement

The consensus is that Slot deserves to start next season, and that the transition from Jürgen Klopp in the summer of 2024 was not as simple as last season's Premier League title indicated.

Slot said that Liverpool were in "survival mode" for "large parts" of the defeat by PSG in the first leg of their quarter-final tie. Pressure has increased on Slot with the availability of both Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard, former Liverpool playing greats who have both won league titles as managers.

As things stand, FSG believes there is mitigation for performances: the death of Diogo Jota principle among them, given its effect on his team-mates at the start of the season. There has also been the fall-off in performance of the stars of the era, primarily last season's top goalscorer Mohamed Salah. Captain Virgil van Dijk acknowledged on Wednesday night it was "the end of an era" for many of the team, with Andy Robertson departing this summer when his contract expires.

Advertisement

While Slot is acknowledged to have made errors, the feeling is that he deserves four transfer windows before a judgment is made. The club estimate their net spend at around £150m under their manager, in spite of last summer's gross spending of more than £450m. Klopp had five windows before his first trophy, the 2019 Champions League.

Slot has a contract until the end of next season, and the club are of a mind to persevere into the last season of that deal before making any decision on a renewal or otherwise. Both Hughes and Edwards – sporting director and FSG's football chief executive respectively – have fixed-term deals that end at the same time. Both planned to stay for the contracted three years and no longer.

Advertisement

Slot is "fully involved" with recruitment plans for the summer, although events may dictate how that evolves. The club already have an agreement to sign Rennes defender Jérémy Jacquet for £55m with more changes planned.

Whether Alonso is interested in the Liverpool job is not clear, but the Basque coach, sacked in January by Real Madrid, asked not to be considered in the summer of 2024 when Klopp's replacement was being chosen. He elected to stay at Bayer Leverkusen then and moved after the following season when the Real Madrid job became available.

That unwillingness to follow Klopp, one of the club's greatest managers, contrasted with Slot's enthusiasm for the challenge, continues to figure in the thinking at the club.