Liverpool have sacked Arne Slot. Twelve months after he handed the club its 20th league title, the Dutchman has been shown the door — and the numbers behind that decision are difficult to argue with.
Champions with 84 points in 2024-25, Liverpool finished 24 points worse off the following season, ending up 25 behind new champions Arsenal. That's not a blip. That's a collapse. And it came after the club reportedly spent around $580 million reshaping the squad in Slot's image.
The case against Slot was building all season
Criticism of Liverpool's style of play had been growing for months. Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson — both totemic figures under Jürgen Klopp — were no longer guaranteed starters. The reported friction between Slot and Salah cast a shadow over the Egyptian's final months at Anfield, and the broader sense was that the dressing room was creaking.
There's a version of Slot's story that writes itself as unfair: he inherited Klopp's squad, won the title in year one, then watched that squad age out while being asked to integrate expensive new arrivals. A common view is that his first-season success owed more to his predecessor's players than his own system. Whether that's right or wrong, it was always the ceiling on his goodwill with the board.
Liverpool's statement was warm but firm. "Change is necessary in order for the club to keep moving forward," they said, while acknowledging that "this is not a decision which has been reached lightly." They also credited Slot for the compassion he showed following the death of Diogo Jota — a detail that says something about the kind of manager he was, regardless of the results.
Iraola the early frontrunner to take over
Andoni Iraola, who departed Bournemouth at the end of the 2025-26 season, has quickly emerged as the leading candidate to replace Slot. Liverpool confirmed the appointment process is already underway.
Iraola built a reputation at Bournemouth for high-intensity, tactically flexible football — the kind of identity Liverpool have visibly lacked this season. Whether he can manage the step up from a mid-table outfit to a club with Champions League football and a fanbase demanding instant results is the central question his odds-on status doesn't yet answer.
Slot leaves with a Premier League winner's medal and a statement full of kind words. Liverpool leave themselves with a rebuild, a points gap to close, and a managerial vacancy that just became one of the most watched in European football.
