Liverpool star hails ‘legend’ Xabi Alonso as Arne Slot ally comes out swinging | OneFootball

Jeremie Frimpong has heaped praise on potential new Liverpool head coach Xabi Alonso, while Arne Slot has been defended by his former assistant, Marino Pusic.

Calls for Slot to be sacked by Liverpool are growing following three consecutive defeats to Brighton & Hove Albion, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain in three different competitions. The 2-1 league defeat at the Amex dented Liverpool’s hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League via a top-five Premier League finish, while a 4-0 loss to City ended the Reds’ FA Cup ambitions.

Expectations were low heading into the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie with PSG on Wednesday, and Slot’s back five experiment failed as the reigning UCL champions won 2-0.

Ahead of the Premier League home clash with Fulham later on Saturday, Slot insisted he feels ‘a lot of support’ from the Anfield hierarchy, despite speculation he could be axed.

Alonso is the favourite to replace the Dutchman this summer, and Frimpong has once again lauded his former Bayer Leverkusen boss.

“He [Alonso] is a great player, you know, [a] legend,” Frimpong told Men in Blazers.

“He knows the game. If you have a coach like him, you know, you have to listen. He knows what’s best for you. He’s seen a lot of players that are good, so he’s got all the experience.

“So of course, when he first came, he just knew how to use me. He knew I could help the team a lot with my speed and my ability to get past people. Just practicing your final third balls, when to run so you are not offside, things like this.”

Frimpong’s big praise for Alonso will do little to quash rumours that the Spaniard could become Liverpool’s new boss this summer.

Pusic, meanwhile, worked under Slot at AZ and Feyenoord, and even rejected the opportunity to follow him to Merseyside.

In an interview with Dutch outlet Voetbal International, Pusic questioned why Liverpool fans are calling for Slot to be sacked.

“I think Arne deserves much more credit at Liverpool right now than he is getting,” he said.

“Many people forget how frequently Liverpool has become champion of England in recent decades. Arne did it right away in his first season, but Jurgen Klopp has also only won the Premier League title once.

“Before that, Liverpool last won the league title in 1990. And now it is expected that Arne will win the title twice in a row. Especially because so much money has been spent. That doesn’t always work.

“They would do well at Liverpool to remain calm and give Arne and his staff, with Sipke Hulshoff and Giovanni van Bronckhorst, their confidence.”

On his previous spell with Slot, Pusic added: “It was a real pleasure to work with Arne.

“We have a special bond. That has since become a form of friendship. As far as I am concerned, he is one of the best coaches in the world.

“I am talking about his demeanour, his football philosophy, how he conveys it, and his manners. I can only speak lyrically about him.”

The general consensus among trusted Liverpool reporters is that Slot will be given another campaign to turn things around.

However, The Times’ Paul Joyce has admitted that failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League may ‘challenge FSG’s conviction.’