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Club’s flawed recruitment meant coach did not deserve the vitriol, but Anfield boos led to executives needing to actMohamed Salah’s parting shot was to demand the return of heavy-metal football at Liverpool and, in their reasoning for sacking Arne Slot, the club’s hierarchy have concurred. It is a brutal, but understandable decision to remove Slot on the basis that Liverpool’s style must evolve, though responsibility for this season’s regression does not rest with the coach alone.Liverpool have never sacked a title-winning manager on their title-winning watch before now. Sir Kenny Dalglish’s dismissal came in his second, League Cup-winning spell in charge. That underlines the scale of the decision to sack a head coach who won the club’s record-equalling 20th league title 13 months ago and who handled the unprecedented trauma of Diogo Jota’s death with dignity and professionalism last summer.Slot deserved so much better than the vitriolic personal abuse that subsequently flowed down the sewage pipe of social media from many Liverpool supporters. He also deserved better than to feel he should be separate from the send-offs to Salah and Andy Robertson and the team’s traditional lap of honour after what proved to be his final game as head coach.But the distance between Slot and the Anfield crowd six days ago, between the Dutchman and the Liverpool team, was symptomatic of the divide that appeared during the campaign. That divide also prompted Liverpool to act after their review into a season that featured 20 defeats in all competitions, including the Community Shield, and the club’s lowest points tally in a decade.Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool’s owner, persevered with Brendan Rodgers going into that 2015-16 season despite the fans turning beforehand and sacked him in the October. Executives knew they were in a similar predicament with Slot, that the recent toxicity would have re-erupted at the first sign of trouble next season, and have reluctantly taken a different course of action this time.The club statement confirming Slot’s exit is effusive in its praise for his title achievement, his character and his conduct. Rightly so. But Anfield had turned and made its feelings clear in the penultimate home game of the season against Chelsea. It needed much more than the promise of signing a couple of talented wingers this summer to win back the faithful.Slot struggled throughout the season to rectify Liverpool’s shortcomings at set pieces – their increasing importance in the Premier League at odds with his own approach – and to prevent opponents repeatedly hurting his team from open play. The amount of late goals conceded and in-game collapses invited criticism of the fitness levels.There was also a distinct lack of leadership and character within the squad. Virgil van Dijk’s despondent admission that Liverpool gave up during their woeful FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Manchester City pointed to a wider malaise. The style of play was ineffective and, worse for an Anfield crowd, it was dull.Slot was stung by descriptions of his team as boring. He strived for the complete opposite but drifted further and further away from a solution in his second campaign. Even with Champions League qualification secured by the final day’s draw against Brentford, there was little evidence that shortcomings were being addressed. In that respect, Liverpool had to act.The mitigating factors for Liverpool’s decline were extensive. Jota’s death cast an inevitable pall over the season and the squad. There was an extensive and serious injury list that stretched resources in defence and attack. Having propelled Liverpool to an unexpected Premier League triumph in 2024-25, Salah suffered an unexpected loss of form that disrupted the entire team.It was Slot’s misfortune to be the one to inform a legend that his time was up. Salah took the news gracelessly and made three public attempts to undermine his boss before leaving, despite being immediately recalled to the starting lineup after the Africa Cup of Nations. The decks have been cleared for Andoni Iraola or whoever Liverpool appoint as Slot’s successor in that regard.But we must return to the summer that changed everything for Slot and Liverpool, when almost £450m was spent on new signings that made the reigning champions worse. It is here where blame rises above Slot’s role. He was named head coach for a reason. FSG and its chief executive of football, Michael Edwards, did not want a continuation of the all-powerful manager once Jürgen Klopp informed the owners of his decision to step down in late 2023. Slot slotted into the system. He had input into transfers but not to Klopp’s extent.The most expensive recruitment drive in Liverpool’s history was led by Edwards and Richard Hughes, the sporting director who hired Iraola when he was at Bournemouth and retains a strong working relationship with his agent, Iñaki Ibáñez. They bought a £29.5m wingback, Jeremie Frimpong, for a team that do not operate with wingbacks. They spent all summer pursuing Alexander Isak, prompting the striker to in effect down tools at Newcastle throughout pre-season, before eventually paying £125m for a player who spent the first half of the campaign trying to get up to speed as a result of missing pre-season. And they paid £125m having already acquired Hugo Ekitiké, the only one to impress from an intake that also featured the £116m Florian Wirtz, the £40m Milos Kerkez and the £29m Giorgi Mamardashvili. Luis Díaz was not replaced and attempts to low-ball Crystal Palace over Marc Guéhi backfired badly.Slot went into his final season with an imbalanced and inadequate squad as a result of decisions taken above him. There were some encouraging nights in the Champions League, along with the misfortune to draw Paris Saint-Germain in the knockout stages for a second successive season, but those moments were fleeting. Salah was not the only established player to endure a downturn in form nor the only one to complain.Liverpool stood by Slot even after PSV Eindhoven inflicted a ninth defeat in 12 matches on his team, the club’s worst run of results in 71 years, and maintained they were behind their man for the best part of the six months that followed. Ultimately, however, Edwards, Hughes and FSG reached the conclusion they had to get Anfield back onside. And in that respect, and with respect, Slot had to go.

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The title-winning glow soon faded for the champions’ manager after tragedy in Spain presaged a dramatic decline on the pitchThe Liverpool forward was returning from his native Portugal to England via car then ferry, on medical advice after having a minor lung operation, and was killed in an accident along with his brother, André Silva, en route to the Spanish port of Santander, on 3 July 2025. Jota’s death, 11 days after teammates attended his wedding to the mother of their three children, deeply affected everyone at the club. The celebrations at the end of May of the club’s title win on the streets of Liverpool had previously been cut short by a man driving a car into the crowds, injuring 134 people, some seriously. What should have been a summer of celebration was overshadowed by tragedies, and Arne Slot had to prepare for the new season against a highly emotional background.Despite this, after losing the Community Shield to Crystal Palace on penalties Liverpool started the season proper with seven wins, including against Arsenal, several times clinching victory in added time. In the middle of the run, the Reds prised Alexander Isak away from Newcastle for a British record £125m, to cap a remarkable summer of spending, with Florian Wirtz (£116m), Hugo Ekitiké (£69m), Milos Kerkez (£40m) and Jeremie Frimpong (£29.5m) the other major signings. But after Palace scored their own late winner in the league, Chelsea did likewise, and in between the Reds lost 1-0 at Galatasaray in the Champions League. Manchester United then came to Anfield and Harry Maguire headed home a Bruno Fernandes cross in the 84th minute to give the visitors a first away win in the fixture since January 2016. The title defence was crumbling.On the last weekend before the November international break, Liverpool travelled to Manchester City. A goal down as half-time approached, the Reds thought they had equalised but Virgil van Dijk’s header was controversially disallowed before the captain deflected Nico González’s shot into the net for 2-0. Jérémy Doku made it a 3-0 win. Still, that was away to City … Two weeks later, Nottingham Forest arrived at Anfield one place off the bottom with Sean Dyche under pressure – he was sacked three months later. But remarkably they too ran out 3-0 winners, and four days later PSV Eindhoven came to Merseyside and won 4-1. Liverpool were in disarray.Slot reacted to the run of defeats by doing what was close to unthinkable: leaving out Mohamed Salah, double footballer of the year the previous season. The rot was stopped with a 2-0 win at West Ham, where the Egyptian spent the entire 90 minutes on the bench. Salah was omitted against promoted Sunderland at Anfield but came on at half-time with the game goalless, though Liverpool could only scrape a 1-1 draw. When he was omitted again at Leeds and not used at all as Liverpool twice threw away leads in a chaotic 3-3 draw, Salah had had enough, launching an astonishing verbal attack on the manager in the mixed zone, albeit without naming Slot.“I can’t believe … I’m sitting on the bench for 90 minutes,” Salah said. “The third time on the bench, I think for the first time in my career. I’m very, very disappointed. I have done so much for this club down the years and especially last season. Now I’m sitting on the bench and I don’t know why. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That is how I am feeling. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame.”Salah hinted the following week’s game with Brighton, after which he was off to the Africa Cup of Nations, could be his last. Relations were patched up but it was announced on 24 March that he would be leaving at the end of the season.Isak had forced his way out of Newcastle by not training and had in effect missed pre-season. After completing his move he struggled for fitness and when available came off the bench more often than not. By the time Liverpool went to Tottenham on 20 December, he had one league goal and was yet to play a full game. A half-time substitute with the game goalless, the Swede broke the deadlock by converting a through ball from Wirtz but was caught in the act of shooting by Micky van de Ven, the challenge breaking the striker’s left leg. The £100m+ duo had combined for a goal at last but rather than a sign of good things to come it epitomised an apparently cursed season. The 2-1 win at Spurs was, at least, the sixth game in a 13-match unbeaten run, but Liverpool were rarely convincing for more than 45 minutes at any time.The title long since written off, Liverpool were bumping along, doing just enough to likely scrape into the Champions League places, but at least reached the quarter-finals of that competition and the FA Cup. Their chances of silverware were firmly extinguished. On 4 April, Erling Haaland – who had often struggled against the Reds – scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup, his third moving Manchester City 4-0 ahead and leading to remarkable scenes as Liverpool in effect gave up with half an hour to go, playing to avoid further humiliation. Paris Saint-Germain then won 2-0 home and away, utterly dominant in the French capital on 8 April and more effective in front of goal in an even match on Merseyside six days later – a game which saw Ekitiké’s promising debut season curtailed by an achilles tendon rupture. There would be no second trophy for Slot coming this season – or, it proved, any season – as Liverpool manager.

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Dutchman departs after disappointing title defenceLiverpool have sacked Arne Slot after a troubled Premier League title defence and are likely to turn to Andoni Iraola to replace him. Slot has been dismissed with immediate effect and, Liverpool say, with great reluctance after a review into a season that was overshadowed by the death of Diogo Jota and featured 19 defeats in all competitions.With Champions League qualification secured on the final day, and the Liverpool hierarchy claiming for several months that they backed the Dutch coach, the 47-year-old had expected to remain at the helm.However, Liverpool feel the team’s playing style needs to evolve to a more aggressive, front-foot approach and respond to changes within the Premier League. That vision increases the likelihood of Iraola – who was appointed Bournemouth’s head coach by Richard Hughes, now Liverpool’s sporting director – being appointed as Slot’s successor.In a statement on the club’s website, the ownership wrote: “That this was a difficult decision for us to make as a club goes without saying. The contribution Arne has made to Liverpool FC in the time that he has been with us has been significant, meaningful and – most importantly of all to supporters and ourselves – successful. “As such, our appreciation for everything he has achieved could not be greater, particularly as it was underpinned by a work ethic, a diligence and a level of expertise which further underlined our view that he is a leader in his field.“From the moment that we first encountered Arne, it was immediately clear that he is an individual who does not merely accept responsibility, he embraces it. This was evident when he agreed to take over as head coach, when he guided us to the Premier League title and throughout the season just ended when he faced considerable challenges and burdens.“At the same time, we have collectively come to the conclusion that change is necessary in order for the club to keep moving forward. Again, it must be stressed that this is not a decision which has been reached lightly, anything but.”The statement also paid tribute to the Dutchman’s handling of Jota’s death, saying: “He also helped guide the club through one of the most difficult periods imaginable following the loss of Diogo. The compassion and humanity he showed throughout that time said a great deal about him as a person.”However, the statement continued: “Nevertheless, the conclusion we have come to is built on a belief that the team’s trajectory is best addressed through a change of direction. That does not diminish the work Arne has done here, or the respect we have for him. Nor is it a reflection of his talents. Rather, it is indicative of the need for a different approach.“Arne leaves with our gratitude, with a Premier League title to his name, and with the knowledge that he and his family will always be welcomed back at Anfield.”Liverpool want to install a replacement quickly and Iraola is available having left Bournemouth. The 43-year-old has interest from Milan, Bayer Leverkusen and Crystal Palace, but has not committed to the next phase of his impressive coaching career so far.Slot guided Liverpool to a record-equalling 20th league title in his first season at the club and made the transition from the Jürgen Klopp era appear seamless. Liverpool acknowledge that his dismissal appears unfair in the context of that achievement plus the manner in which he has conducted himself during his two years in charge.But after investing almost £450m in new signings last summer, Liverpool regressed badly and supporters turned on the team’s style of play in the final months.Liverpool could consider themselves unfortunate to draw Manchester City in the FA Cup and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, but their title defence deteriorated badly. With the exception of Hugo Ekitike, new signings, such as £116m Florian Wirtz and £125m British record signing Alexander Isak, failed to produce, established players such as Mohamed Salah, Ibrahima Konaté and Alexis Mac Allister suffered a severe drop-off in form. Problems at set-pieces and in open play blighted the team all season.Slot’s methods were called out by Salah before he left the club and the head coach kept his distance from the team during their lap of honour at Anfield on the final day.Against a backdrop of fan and team unrest, Liverpool came to the conclusion that Slot’s departure was inevitable at some point and have acted now to avoid disrupting next season. Slot’s backroom staff are also expected to leave, although there has been no announcement from the club on their positions as yet.

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Ian Rush among those from Liverpool and Juventus at ceremonyNew Anfield Road monument replaces original plaqueLiverpool have unveiled a new memorial on the 41st anniversary of the Heysel Stadium tragedy to the 39 fans who died.Representatives from Juventus, Liverpool’s opponents in the 1985 European Cup final, attended the unveiling ceremony at Anfield on Friday along with the Liverpool ambassador Ian Rush and the chief executive, Billy Hogan. Entitled Forever Bound, the memorial is in a more prominent location behind the Anfield Road Stand and replaces the original plaque on the wall of the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand, which was felt to be inadequate.The sculpture features a Juventus scarf and a Liverpool scarf entwined in bronze, a dedication to the date and location of the tragedy and the names of the 39 supporters who died at Heysel – 32 from Italy, four from Belgium, two from France and one from Northern Ireland. The idea for the two scarves, symbolising solidarity between the two clubs and a bond formed by grief, came from photographs of the aftermath of the disaster that showed fan memorabilia strewn across the Heysel terraces. Italian marble was used for the memorial, which was proposed last year by the Liverpool supporters’ board and the supporters’ union Spirit of Shankly.Rush, who played in the 1985 European Cup final and later joined Juventus, said: “Today is a deeply moving moment. It’s hard to believe over 40 years have passed since Heysel but the memory of that day never fades. This new memorial means a great deal to all of us. The thought and respect that has gone into Forever Bound is something I’m incredibly proud of and I hope it brings comfort to those still affected by this tragedy.”Hogan was part of a Liverpool delegation that attended the unveiling of Juventus’s new memorial to the victims of Heysel in Turin last year. Liverpool’s CEO said of Forever Bound: “This memorial is a symbol of shared remembrance, of unity and the bond formed between Liverpool and Juventus. We are honoured to welcome our friends from Juventus to Anfield today and we stand together in solidarity and memory of the 39 supporters who tragically lost their lives at Heysel. This is a moment for all of us to pause and reflect and to commit once again to ensuring that their memory lives on.”

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Defender will depart Anfield on a free transferFrance international linked with Paris Saint-GermainIbrahima Konaté looks set to leave Liverpool after failing to agree a contract extension.The 27-year-old’s representatives have been in extensive talks with the club about extending his five-year stay at Anfield but it now looks certain that the France international will leave for free.If Konaté walks away from Liverpool out of contract, it will be the second consecutive year – after Trent Alexander-Arnold ran down his deal before a £10m move to Real Madrid – that the club will have lost one of their first-choice defenders without receiving a significant fee.Konaté has had a disappointing season but losing an established centre-back will come as a blow for the sporting director Richard Hughes, with new defensive recruits Jérémy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni both working their way back to fitness after significant injuries and transfer speculation swirling over the future of Joe Gomez.With Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson also leaving, Konaté’s departure would mean another mainstay of the Jürgen Klopp era departing. The Paris-born player is now likely to be courted by Paris Saint-Germain, although Chelsea have also been linked with a move.In April the defender hinted he would like to stay at Anfield when he opened up about the contract negotiations.He said: “My future? There are many things people have said but for a long time we have spoken with the club and we are close to an agreement. I think everyone wished for that for as long as possible but we are in a good way.“There is a big chance I’m here next season. This is what I always wanted. I’m waiting to sort the contract but when everything is sorted you will have to ask Richard [Hughes, ­Liverpool’s sporting director] what I said to him in September, November and he’s going to say something to make everyone quiet.”