Arne Slot is right about Liverpool future - no matter what you think of his firing
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Liverpool FC NewsFeaturesArne SlotArne Slot showed his class this weekend by penning an open letter to Liverpool fans after the Reds decided to fire him, wishing the club all the best for the futureA dejected Arne Slot applauds the Liverpool fans after losing to Manchester United.(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)Arne Slot should be remembered fondly for winning Liverpool's 20th league title. During and then after the emotional summer that followed, however, Slot was the figurehead in devastating circumstances, taking on that role impeccably.Having left Liverpool this weekend, Slot once again gracefully navigated a situation that he didn't see coming by penning an open letter to Reds fans in the Liverpool ECHO.In it, he spoke about his pride at winning the league and guiding a club of Liverpool's size.
He then spoke eloquently about the loss of Diogo Jota and the incident at the Liverpool title parade.For all that Liverpool decided it was the right call to fire Slot — and plenty would be in agreement with that — there has at times been a lack of respect for his work in some quarters.Hysterical calls to fire him as far back as October or November were never going to come to fruition, and given what he and the team had gone through in the period since, those shouts were uncalled for.Arne Slot was fired by Liverpool on May 30.(Image: Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)Slowly, as the weeks went by, some of the discussions around Slot became more toxic. For some, for instance, there was an insistence that he only won the league because he took on Klopp's squad, which was always nonsense.One post on X this weekend questioned if Slot had been too quickly added to the banner of league-title-winning Liverpool managers that adorns The Kop, as if somehow the season that followed canceled out the original achievement.Typically online conversations about Slot's managerial ability, with no thought for the mitigating circumstances, had begun to creep into the match-going support too.
Things could very quickly have turned even more toxic.Slot won the league title with Liverpool, though, and as he noted in his open letter, he genuinely believes the squad — with some more additions brought in this summer — is well set up to progress.He is right about that, even though he won't get the chance to prove it himself. And as we find out for sure whether he is correct about the squad he leaves behind, Slot should depart with the dignity and respect wished on him by Liverpool and FSG.Matt AddisonMatt Addison is the Liverpool FC reporter for Liverpool.com, covering the Reds through written articles, podcasts and videos.