Liverpool still appear minded to back Arne Slot, despite the growing noise around his future on Merseyside.
The Dutchman has lost plenty of support among fans this season, with performances dropping well below the level expected after last year’s title win. Results have not been good enough, the football has been painful to watch, and Anfield has become restless.
Even so, the message from inside the club remains broadly consistent. Liverpool believe there are clear reasons for the drop-off, and they still think Slot can make the team look very different next season.
What does Arne Slot have to do to win you back next season❓💭
James Pearce explains why Liverpool still believe in Arne Slot
There is no getting away from how poor Liverpool have been this season.
Slot has made mistakes, and even his biggest supporters would struggle to defend some of the performances in recent weeks. But the club do not seem ready to tear everything up just yet.
Speaking about the situation on the Walk On podcast, James Pearce explained why Liverpool still have faith in the manager.
He said: “I can completely understand where they’re coming from when I speak to people about why he’s likely to stay. They believe that with pace out wide, with more physicality in midfield, that Liverpool will be a very different force next season.
“They still think that, because of all the reasons why they gave him the job two years ago, and because of how that faith was rewarded with the title last season, that he hasn’t just completely and utterly lost that ability tactically, man-management, everything, that a lot of the things have hampered him.”
That’s the argument FSG are leaning on. The squad has not looked right, and the summer should give Slot a chance to fix some of those issues.
Whether supporters have the patience for that is another matter.
But for now, Liverpool seem to believe the manager who won them the league is still in there. We’ll know by October or so if that faith was justified.
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