FSG reach decision on sacking Arne Slot after Liverpool fans turn and damning Hodgson comparison | OneFootball

A trusted Liverpool source has revealed FSG’s plans regarding sacking Arne Slot after Anfield turned on the Dutchman and a series of pitiful statistics came to light.

Liverpool are in the midst of a 12-match unbeaten run across all competitions (six wins, six draws), though anyone watching the games can see there are colossal issues at Anfield right now.

The Reds were held to their fourth successive Premier League draw on Saturday when failing to beat Burnley. For the first time since the 1980/81 campaign, Liverpool have failed to beat any of the newly-promoted sides at home.

Slot’s record over his last 17 league matches has produced just five wins and an average points return of 1.24 per game.

At the time when Liverpool sacked the deeply unpopular Roy Hodgson in 2011 – widely regarded as one of if not the worst Reds manager of all time – he’d produced a points-per-game ratio of 1.25 from his 20 league matches.

Over the last 17 league matches, Slot is officially worse than Hodgson despite boasting a team containing world class stars the likes of Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk and Florian Wirtz.

The Anfield faithful began to turn on Slot in the Burnley clash, with embarrassing “attack, attack attack!” chants cascading down from the terraces.

Slot sets his sides up not to lose these days, with the Reds content to hoover up the bulk of possession in non-threatening areas. It’s a far cry from the Jurgen Klopp era where Liverpool were always set up to win, no matter the opponent.

His team selection committed the same old mistakes, with the painfully ineffective Cody Gakpo chosen to start once again.

Alexis Mac Allister was again dropped to the bench for reasons unbeknownst to man. Ibrahima Konate – who costs Liverpool goals on an almost weekly basis and was at fault for Marcus Edwards’ goal when failing to spot the danger and track his run – is never dropped.

There were audible boos at full time, yet despite Liverpool’s inability to win matches, and despite the fans turning, club owners FSG have decided NOT to sack Slot.

That’s according to The Athletic’s James Pearce who insisted FSG will not follow in the footsteps of Chelsea and Manchester United – and soon to be Tottenham – by removing their under-pressure managers.

Pearce wrote: “Slot retains the backing of FSG, who have no plans to follow the lead of rivals Manchester United and Chelsea by making a managerial change mid-campaign.”

But while Slot is safe for now, the presence of Xabi Alonso on the job market has changed the situation to a degree.

Pearce continued: “If he’s going to stop haemorrhaging support among the fanbase he needs to find momentum, and fast. There appeared to be no obvious replacement for those demanding change. That’s no longer the case following Xabi Alonso’s exit from Real Madrid.

“Alonso, who has a close bond with Liverpool dating back to his playing days on Merseyside between 2004 and 2009, would have been a strong candidate to succeed Jurgen Klopp in 2024 if he hadn’t vowed to stay at Bayer Leverkusen for another year.

“Slot then emerged as an emphatic first choice for FSG CEO of football Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes in their data-led search.

“It’s unclear when or where Alonso will look to embark on a new challenge but with every setback Liverpool endure, the noise will crank up. Slot can only silence it by finding solutions to the problems facing him.

“Champions League qualification is the minimum requirement, and that’s far from certain with United one point behind and Chelsea two points adrift.”

In other news, Tottenham have shown shock interest in signing a Liverpool player who has been a regular starter for Slot of late, and whose exit would leave a concerning void at Anfield.

Elsewhere, Liverpool and Ibrahima Konate remain some way apart in their talks over a new contract, with sources revealing to TEAMtalk the huge dilemma now facing Richard Hughes and with a potential free-transfer exit from Anfield edging ever closer.