Arne Slot future: How sacking Premier League-winning manager for Xabi Alonso may help Liverpool avoid Brendan Rodgers mistake

Premier League champions Liverpool have failed to defend their top-flight crown in 2025-26, and their chances of collecting silverware this term are growing slimmer by the week.

Arne Slot‘s Reds have endured a difficult season for a variety of reasons, but when they were eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the FA Cup on Saturday in a humiliating 4-0 thrashing against Manchester City, morale hit a new low.

Fans of the Merseysiders – known for their unwavering support – left the Etihad Stadium in droves around the hour mark, chanting on their way out of the ground for Xabi Alonso, who has widely been tipped to eventually replace the former Feyenoord boss.

To make matters worse, the Citizens’ home crowd belted out a chorus of “You’re getting sacked in the morning,” leaving the manager facing opposition on all sides.

As the situation grows increasingly tense, Sports Mole takes a look at some of the reasons why replacing Slot now could be in Liverpool’s best interests.

Champions League qualification is at risk under Arne Slot

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The most pressing concern facing the Premier League champions at the moment is that their place in next season’s Champions League is far from secure – Liverpool currently sit fifth in the table, five points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa, and just one point above sixth-placed Chelsea.

The Reds will also be looking over their shoulder at seventh-placed Brentford and bitter rivals Everton in eighth, both of whom are a mere two points shy of Slot’s team.

Liverpool parted ways with a record-breaking £446.5m in the summer of 2025, and ahead of what looks to be another busy transfer window at the end of this term, a loss in revenue from missing out on UEFA’s premier club competition would be a major blow.

Financial implications aside, the Merseysiders already face the near-impossible task of replacing one of the club’s greatest ever goalscorers – Mohamed Salah – at the close of the campaign, but attracting the level of talent required to bolster their frontline would become all the more challenging without Champions League football.

The Reds are synonymous with the competition in England, having lifted the famous trophy six times, but wingers such as RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande could opt to join rivals such as Bayern Munich if qualification is not achieved, while more aspirational targetsincluding the Bavarians’ Michael Olise would be beyond the club’s reach.

Liverpool’s problems are inherent to Arne Slot’s style

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When Slot was brought in ahead of the 2024-25 season, much praise was heaped upon the manager’s ability to keep a smaller squad of players fit throughout a lengthy campaign, but this methods has struggled to make a positive impact so far.

Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool were known for their intensity and ability to overwhelm opponents with their running power, but Slot has taken a more reserved approach when it comes to pressing.

For example, the German boss would frequently ‘over train’ his squad with particularly tough fitness sessions, in order to make the physical demands of matchdays seem easier by comparison.

This enabled the likes of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Salah to consistently cover staggering distances and maintain superior fitness for longer periods in matches, allowing the team to take advantage when opponents became fatigued late on in games.

© Iconsport / PA Images

In stark contrast, Slot’s method involves an enhanced focus on rest and recovery in training, avoiding the extreme workouts that his predecessor employed. In fact, the manager has often referenced in press conferences just how few of his stars trained in full before a game.

The idea behind this is that the 90 minutes of a match become the most physically intensive part of the process, and that players will therefore be able to give a higher proportion of their energy during the moments in which points are available.

In theory, this approach could lead to better longevity for the Reds’ stars, but in practice, it has led to Liverpool being outrun in 27 of their 31 Premier League games so far in 2025-26. While being outrun is not always a negative, Slot’s side’s distance numbers have been worrying at times.

For instance, in their most recent top-flight outing – a 2-1 loss against Brighton – Liverpool’s total distance came in at roughly 8km lower than their opponents’, and given that Virgil van Dijk averaged 8.8km covered per 90 in 2024-25 (Opta), that figure adds up to almost an entire extra player’s worth of running for the Seagulls.

Considering that Slot’s fitness maintenance method is a key part of his style, it is difficult to see a drastic improvement occurring without replacing the head coach, and it is likely to take a new face in the dugout to restore the Merseysiders’ hard-working identity.

Liverpool must avoid repeating Brendan Rodgers mistake with Arne Slot

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Liverpool enjoyed an impressive 2013-14 season – spearheaded by an unprecedented campaign from Luis Suarez – but then-manager Brendan Rodgers struggled in 2014-15 after losing his star man to Barcelona.

That dire term culminated in a sixth-placed finish (causing the Reds to miss out on Champions League football), not to mention the shocking 6-1 final-day thrashing at the hands of Stoke City that saw Steven Gerrard score his last-ever goal for the club.

Reports suggested that Rodgers was under pressure in the aftermath of the season, but Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group allowed the boss to persist into the start of the 2015-16 term, before eventually sacking him and appointing Klopp as his replacement in October.

The current situation at Anfield almost mirrors that scenario, with Liverpool having lifted the Premier League title in 2024-25 thanks in large part to a record-breaking season from Salah, and going on to struggle just months later with the Egyptian talisman no longer producing the same output.

The Reds are once again at risk of missing out on Champions League qualification, and though Slot is under pressure, reports indicate that FSG are likely to keep the manager, at least until the end of 2025-26.

Salah’s impending departure makes it clear that Liverpool are at an inflection point, and allowing the current head coach to go through an entire pre-season with the squad – as well as guiding a transfer window that will shape the future of the club – before potentially sacking him in the opening stages of 2026-27 could be extremely damaging.

Therefore, if the Anfield hierarchy are considering dismissing Slot, it would be best to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, and do so at a time that will enable any incoming manager to make a solid start to life on Merseyside.