Arne Slot’s writing was on the wall at Liverpool during a tumultuous Premier League season, when outgoing club legend Mohamed Salah made headlines on May 17, not with his dazzling feet but through the use of his phone.
After the defeat to Aston Villa, Salah publicly criticized the manager’s style and called for Liverpool to return to ‘heavy metal attacking’ football, amid growing fan dissatisfaction with Slot. The message on X ultimately set the ball rolling for the Dutchman’s sacking, despite leading the club to a 20th league title just 12 months ago.
In what would be a period of transition with five new players and the departure of key figures Luis Diaz and Trent Alexander-Arnold, the club was shocked by the shock loss of Diogo Jota, who tragically passed away in July. Slot’s efforts have been recognized by the club in helping the club come together amid a state of mourning. The emotional toll on the club, which has been hinted at by several players throughout the campaign, cannot be underestimated.
During the transfer window, Slot received backing of more than £450 million to refresh the squad, including two British transfer records in Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz.
Liverpool started strongly with five straight wins, marked by defensive vulnerabilities, which ultimately were signs of things to come. The club went from being title contenders to clawing their way to a place in the Champions League. In the last 33 games, Liverpool have picked up just 45 points and scored 53 goals – the eighth-worst defensive record in the division – the most the club has conceded since 1993-94. The Reds endured a poor run on all fronts and finished trophyless.
Slot was not helped with injuries to the backline, including new signing Giovanni Leoni (49 games missed), Conor Bradley (31), Jeremy Frimpong (22) and Alisson Becker (20). Injuries to strikers Isak (28) and Hugo Ekitike (8) also hurt the club in attack as the club scored just 63 goals, the same number as in 2016/17.
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As the style of football in the league evolved towards a more robust, physical nature with more focus on set pieces, Slot did not appear to be bucking the trend. Instead, he was quite pointed about it. «Do I like it? My football heart doesn’t like it. Now most of the matches I see in the Premier League are not a pleasure for me to watch,» he noted.
His indifference to it translated into Liverpool’s record on the pitch. Liverpool’s set-piece record was highlighted by Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick mastery, of which he scored four, but the overall dead-ball record was among the worst in the league. According to The Athleticsthe Reds scored more than 5.5 goals per 100 set pieces while conceding 7.3 goals per 100 set pieces – the worst record in the league.
Slot’s biggest risk came from within the dressing room, however, when Salah, a key architect of Liverpool’s title success the previous season, turned on him midway through the season. While Salah scored 47 goals in 2024/25, he finished this season with just a total of 14. While the pair put things behind them in January, Salah managed to provide his best ‘assist’ of the season with his social media post, which appears to have led to Slot’s dismissal.
Published on May 30, 2026
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