Arne Slot's job is safe as FSG give Liverpool boss chance to show famous day is the norm
Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Echo or go back to LFC Live.
Two years ago this week, as Jurgen Klopp entered his final weeks at Anfield, Liverpool were preparing to usher in the Arne Slot era.An agreement struck with Feyenoord, which was made public on April 26, 2024, set in the motion the thrashing out of the specifics between the clubs as Slot awaited confirmation that his dream move would become his reality."It seems clear to me that I would like to work there," the Dutchman said at the time. All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook pageWithin a month, Klopp was chanting the name of his replacement on the Anfield turf as the German said his goodbyes on an emotional afternoon in front of over 60,000 people.It was an unusual way for a club the size of Liverpool to all but confirm their new coach's arrival, but it was delivered in an almost trademark fashion from a demob-happy Klopp, who, by that point, was humorously going off-script and doing as he pleased.Inside 12 months of news that they had struck the deal with Feyenoord to take Slot as their new boss, the Reds were celebrating one of their most famous days at Anfield as they were crowned champions of England for a 20th time.A 5-1 hammering of Tottenham Hotspur, who had the distraction of a Europa League final on the horizon, was the perfect prelude to one of the most joyous afternoons the famous venue had ever seen, as Slot's side was crowned the best in the land.The party that evening, exactly one year ago today, continued until about 3am inside the Carlsberg Dugout in the Main Stand.
The end of April 2026 feels like a sharp contrast for the Reds boss, who has waded through a difficult and at times dramatic campaign with questions still lingering.Qualification for next season's Champions League - which will be confirmed with six points from the final four matches, against Manchester United, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Brentford - is now looking like a safer bet than it has all season. That, though, will be scant consolation.In many ways, a recent run of three successive victories has prevented May from being a make-or-break month for their entire campaign against the teams with whom they are battling to finish as the 'best of the rest' behind title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City.Liverpool, who now occupy fourth ahead of Sunday's trip to United, are in a strong position as the final month of the season approaches, but confirming their participation in next season's Champions League won't be viewed as a marker of success.
It has always been the minimum basic requirement for a club have seemingly budgeted for its inclusion in Europe's most lucrative campaign.Slot will point to a myriad of reasons why his team have under-performed from where they found themselves this time last year, but explanations quickly start to sound like excuses at a club the size of the Reds.Injuries, of course, have bitten hard at times but while there has been great misfortune for the likes of Conor Bradley, Wataru Endo and £204m strike duo Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak, the list of absentees has never reached the sort of darkly comic levels it did at times in recent years.Slot's main problem, in fact, has been a lack of numbers at a club who were too willing to shed all of their fringe players last summer.Slot has always professed that Liverpool don't keep players against their wishes, meaning anyone who wanted to depart - Darwin Nunez, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz, to name three - were allowed to. That hasn't been the case even nearly enough this season.It's expected that Slot's end-of-season grading will keep him in his current position.