Arne Slot’s sacking by Liverpool came after a pretty ordinary 2025/26 season. Liverpool made a few big signings at the start of the season, but it still proved to be underwhelming for them, and as a result, Arne Slot’s sacking seemed inevitable.
However, if one strictly goes by results, the sacking seems a bit harsh on the 47-year-old. He won the Premier League title in his first season at the club and finished fifth in the recently concluded one, thereby ensuring UEFA Champions League football for the Reds. His team also reached the Champions League quarter-finals this season.
Arne Slot’s Sacking: The Football On Display Left The Dutchman’s Job In Jeopardy
Arne Slot’s sacking resulted from the insipid and dull football Liverpool exhibited for the most part in the 2025/26 season.
Slot primarily dealt with the players inherited from Jurgen Klopp, but at the start of the 2025/26 season, he signed players like Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez to bolster his options.
Isak was absent owing to an injury for a long time, Wirtz struggled to settle down at a particular position in the playing XI, Frimpong was largely obscure, and Kerkez only did justice to his signing in the second half of the season.
Both Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk had below-par seasons, as the former put an end to his Liverpool career after nine seasons. However, it was the way Liverpool played that led to Arne Slot’s sacking.
Slot’s Liverpool played a more possession-oriented, slow-tempo game, which was not coupled with the desire to win the ball back after losing possession.
This meant that the opposition defences did not have to worry much about their pressing, and Liverpool’s own porous defence meant that they conceded 53 goals in 38 Premier League matches, which was 26 more than Arsenal’s title-winning tally.
There was no sign of the heavy-metal, high-energy football professed by Klopp that dragged people to Anfield. Liverpool were a pale, low-energy imitation of the teams that have played possession-oriented football like Manchester City and Barcelona.
As a result, the Reds often looked second-best against other top teams and losses to Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City pointed that out painfully.
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Arne Slot’s Sacking: Winning Trophies Was Not Enough To Keep Him At The Helm
Hence, despite securing UEFA Champions League football for the next season and winning the Premier League in his debut season, Slot had to relinquish his job.
He has failed to inculcate an effective philosophy into the club, and the supporters and the club management have not taken a favourable view of it.
Just like it is an unwritten rule that the Barcelona manager will have to make his team play possession-oriented football relying on the tiki-taka style, it has become imperative that Liverpool will have to play high-tempo and entertaining stuff.
Klopp himself tried to make a slow transition to possession-oriented football in his last season at the club, going for a revamp in midfield, but sticking to the same principle has made Slot pay with his job.
One can also refer to Erik ten Hag, another Dutch manager who was sacked by Manchester United despite winning two trophies, largely because of the uninspiring football his team played.
Andoni Iraola, who is tipped to become Slot’s successor at Liverpool, is known for his high-energy playing style that he professed at AFC Bournemouth.
Thus, as Arne Slot’s sacking shows, the means seem to be just as important as the ends at most top football clubs these days.
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Credit: IMAGO / Propaganda Photo
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