Arne Slot has a huge job on his hands to turn Liverpool around next season, and former Red Steve Nicol is concerned.
After nine months that felt like nine years, Liverpool’s 2025/26 campaign has come to a merciful end. It was as bad as anything supporters have seen in recent memory, with issues running through every area of the pitch.
Recruitment is now essential, but Nicol believes there is another problem waiting for Slot before the rebuild can even properly begin. With the World Cup taking over the summer, Liverpool’s manager will barely get time to work with his full squad before the new season starts.
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Steve Nicol adds to Arne Slot’s Liverpool concerns with World Cup claim
The biggest event on the sporting calendar begins on June 11th, and for most supporters, it will offer a welcome distraction from Liverpool’s miserable season. For Slot, though, it creates a complication.
Liverpool have a host of World Cup-bound players, meaning pre-season will be disrupted before the manager can even begin fixing what went wrong.
Speaking on ESPN, Nicol addressed the disaster that was Liverpool’s season, and why this tournament could not be coming at a worse time.
He says: “There is nothing that this Liverpool side showed us this season that you want to keep and carry on into next year. The back line, the midfield and the forward line. It was atrocious and it was unwatchable at times.
“So starting from the beginning, he 100% has to get bodies in and proper players, not just filling a gap, but proper, proper players.
“And of course, the worst thing for Arne Slot is it’s a World Cup year. So he’s not going to have a lot of time to work with the squad by the time they all come back.
“So the odds against Arne Slot starting the season well are, I’ll tell you, he’s up against it big time.”
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Slot will still have players to work with, and the likes of Giovanni Leoni and Jeremy Jacquet will benefit massively from the extra attention they can receive.
Tactics can be discussed, footage can be analysed and recruitment plans can be shaped.
But not having a full group for much of the summer will only make an already daunting job even harder. Liverpool need a reset, and Slot may not have the time to deliver it.
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