Slot ‘inquest’ coming at Liverpool as FSG know ‘Alonso is there’ and would ‘light up’ Anfield | OneFootball

There will be an ‘inquest’ at Liverpool at the end of a season which has seen Arne Slot lead the Reds in a significant slump after winning the Premier League title last term.

The Liverpool team was met with boos from their fans at Anfield after Chelsea ended their six-game losing streak with a 1-1 draw on Saturday as Enzo Fernandez cancelled out Ryan Grevanberch’s early opener.

The fans also showed their frustration when teenage sensation Rio Ngumoha – who looked their most dangerous player throughout – was substituted by Slot midway through the second half.

Reports have suggested Slot will remain in charge next season as Liverpool need one win from their remaining games against Aston Villa (A) and Brentford (H) to be sure of Champions League football next season.

A large section of the fanbase have turned against Slot and while Joe Cole pointed out a number of mitigating factors for the Dutch boss, the TNT Sports pundit said what we’re all thinking – “Xabi Alonso is there”.

“The club usually stick by their manager,” Cole said. “People have said that Jurgen Klopp won Arne Slot the league last season, but it was Slot’s team.

“There have been circumstances, some of it tragic, then they’ve had issues with the new signings. Alexander Isak started poorly, Florian Wirtz hasn’t settled, Hugo Ekitike has been injured, and we’ve seen the difference between Mohamed Salah this and last season.

“There’s been so many factors, but I always come back to that fact that Xabi Alonso is available. That’s the one thing that’s always hanging there, and he might not be available again. We saw what he did at Bayer Leverkusen.

“It didn’t work out at Real Madrid, but, of course, Arne Slot should stay. Alonso is there, and this place would light up again with him in the hotseat.”

Liverpool ‘at a crossroads’

Fellow pundit Peter Crouch says his former club are “at a crossroads” and that there will be an “inquest” at the end of the season.

“I think Liverpool will get Champions League football, but there will be an inquest into how the season has gone at the end of the year,” Crouch said.

“They just need to get over the line and move on. The club is very good at standing by people, and we can’t forget that Arne Slot won the league in his first season, but it has been disappointing.

“The brand of football has been difficult at times for the fans to take, and there’s a bit of a split. But unlike Chelsea, they’re not trigger-happy as a club, so I think they’ll stand by him, but he’s going to have to show big improvements next season.

“We’re seeing a real changing of the guard with Salah and Robertson moving on, while Virgil van Dijk isn’t getting any younger. They’ve lost Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and, of course, Diogo Jota in terrible circumstances, they’ve lost so many goals in the side.

“Isak and Ekitike were their two new hit men with two up front, so it does make sense to have a real overhaul. They’ve had inverted wingers who have been the goalscorers in [Sadio] Mane and Salah. Having two out-and-out strikers, it makes sense to change the supply line. They would thrive off getting wide players who can provide the service.

“The club are at a point where they have to decide if they double down with Slot, buying players who fit his system, or do they make a change.

“They’re at a real crossroads, and there needs to be serious talks in the summer about the direction the club is going in.

“Many of the fans are disillusioned and see a lack of leaders who are going to take them to the next level.”