Liverpool’s cruel conceding goal in the last minute against Bournemouth in the Premier League has increased the pressure on Dutch manager Arne Slott.
Arne Slot is under huge pressure (Image: Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Saturday night marked another disappointing result in Arne Slot’s history. It remains to be seen whether the 3-2 defeat against Bournemouth will decide the Dutchman’s future, but there is certainly a lot of pressure on him right now.
He won the league last year, which is a hugely commendable achievement, but when you spend £450m on new players and then fall off a cliff the following season, there are more questions than answers.
It is unclear whether Liverpool will follow in the footsteps of Chelsea and Manchester United and make a mid-season switch, but if Slott partes ways before the end of the season, they would have a very suitable candidate for the job.
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Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast in late 2023, football heroes Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer named Xabi Alonso as a potential replacement for Jurgen Klopp.
Two years later, their words are as relevant today as they were then. Alonso resigned as Real Madrid manager at the beginning of January after just eight months and has now joined a new club.
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Shearer said: “He (Alonso) has been getting rave reviews, right? He’s started his coaching and managerial career really well. If he continues to run before other people start paying attention to him, it won’t be long. If you haven’t seen it yet, you won’t know then, right?”
Lineker replied: “If Carlo Ancelotti leaves or is sent off, which is often the case at Real Madrid, I think there is a good chance that he will be replaced by a manager called Jude Bellingham. He could also follow[Jurgen]Klopp in the future. That’s always the case when it comes to these things. There will always be[Steven]Gerrard.”
Shearer replied: “Everything could change in 12 months, but it looks like he’s going to be at the top for a long time, doesn’t it?”
As a player, Alonso enjoyed an illustrious career at the elite level of the game, playing for Liverpool, Madrid and Bayern Munich. After his playing career ended, Alonso made a name for himself in the management world by building Bayer Leverkusen into a European powerhouse.
Xabi Alonso was heavily linked with the Liverpool job before taking up the Real Madrid role (Image: Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
They became the first team in the Bundesliga to go unbeaten in a season, finishing 51 games unbeaten in all competitions in the 2023/2024 season.
Despite securing a dream managerial move to Madrid, things did not go well. Alonso was in charge for just one season, becoming the 11th manager under club president Florentino Perez to spend less than one season.
There were so many big names and celebrities at Madrid that Alonso struggled to manage them all. Vinicius Junior ran down the tunnel after being substituted late in El Clasico a few months ago, and Fede Valverde publicly expressed his displeasure at being selected as full-back.
Vinicius apologized to everyone except Alonso. There is clearly a disconnect at Madrid and Alonso will be looking for a new challenge.
Just five days ago, Spain’s Marca newspaper revealed that Alonso was leaving his management role to spend a few months with his family in San Sebastian. However, he also said that if Liverpool came calling before July, all was off and Alonso would accept the offer and start. “To Liverpool, we all know he will be gone soon. Sooner or later,” it read.
