Iraola gets Liverpool approval after Reds make ‘decision to sack Slot’; Alonso ‘would have waited’ | OneFootball

Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola “has the capabilities” and “gung ho” style to be the new Liverpool boss after claims the Reds will sack Arne Slot.

The Reds have been in disappointing form in recent weeks with Slot’s side taking just one point from their last three Premier League fixtures, leaving them clinging on to the final Champions League spot.

It looks extremely unlikely that Liverpool won’t qualify for the Champions League but recent performances have convinced more supporters that Slot isn’t the right man to lead them into next season.

Earlier on Thursday, a stunning update from ChrisRoyceWords on X, who has over 20k followers, insisted that Liverpool have made the decision to sack Slot at the end of the season.

The account claimed on Thursday morning: ‘EXCLUSIVE: The Liverpool board have decided NOT to continue with Arne Slot as manager for the 26/27 season.

‘Having previously opted to give Slot more time to turn things around, the decision to sack Slot was made over the weekend following conversations with senior players.’

The account later added: ‘Slot is set to take change of Liverpool’s final game of the season on Sunday.

‘The Liverpool board are looking to replace Slot with a Head Coach rather than a manager, hence the lack of interest in Xabi Alonso.

‘No decision on Slot’s replacement has yet been made.’

Iraola has recently been linked as one of the candidates to replace Slot and Liverpool legend Emile Heskey has approved his arrival because of the Spaniard’s “gung ho” approach to football.

Heskey told Hajper: “Andoni Iraola has shown he has the capabilities. He’s shown that he’s a very, very intelligent coach. He’s played a back three. He’s played a back four.

“He knows how to change it up. One thing I will say, Bournemouth is not Liverpool, and we’ve seen this so many times. Liverpool is just a little bit different to some other clubs where you’re given plenty of time.

“So for me, yes, Iraola would be a great option because of the style of playing, and at [the] end of the day, we just want entertaining football as Liverpool fans.

“That’s what we got with Jurgen Klopp. That’s what we got in the first season under Arne Slot, but it just kind of tailed off to become a bit more possession-based. But we want that entertainment. We want our teams to be gung ho. That’s Iraola.”

Incoming Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso had long been linked with a move to Liverpool, as Slot came under pressure earlier in the season, and John Arne Riise reckons the former Real Madrid head coach “would have waited” for the Reds.

Ex-Liverpool defender Riise told Campobet: “I think it’s a sign that, when Xabi went to Chelsea now, if Liverpool had maybe been thinking about letting Arne Slot go, they would have spoken to Xabi already and kept him informed.

“With Xabi signing with Chelsea now, I think it proves that they haven’t spoken to his representative and they’re not considering sacking Arne Slot. Because Xabi Alonso was the obvious choice for me, and for everybody, to take over if they wanted to change.

“I think Xabi, if he knew there was a chance with Liverpool, he would have waited. But since he took the Chelsea job now, quite quickly as well it seems, it kind of tells me that maybe there wasn’t as much talk as people say and I think Slot’s job is safe. That’s what I’m thinking in my head when I saw the news about Xabi going to Chelsea.”

Riise: ‘That’s a bad sign when you’re a manager’

Liverpool fans have booed at the end of some matches this season and when asked if that meant the beginning of the end for managers, Riise added: “It’s not a good sign, if I can say that! But I think it’s more the boos and the negative responses. It’s more like things he’s done in the games that the fans don’t agree with.

“Like, for example, when he took off Rio [Ngumoha] a few games ago and they started booing. But at the end of the day, he explained that after. And I agree with Slot that he does it with tact.

“He knows, and he said he knew there was going to be boos when he takes Rio off. But Rio probably didn’t have sprints in him, he couldn’t track back, he didn’t have the energy he had in the first half. These things will make the team look bad if you don’t have the players who can do the work. So he did explain the reason for taking Rio off. I understand. I also reacted a little bit when he was taking him off because he was good. But if he’s tired, if he doesn’t have the physical stamina to keep going, he can’t play.

“Now it seems like everything Arne is doing, everybody responds negatively to it, whatever he’s doing. That’s a bad sign when you’re a manager because normally people always say, ’It’s a good thing, he knows why he did it’. But now it’s like, ‘No, you shouldn’t do it’.

“He has a big job ahead of him to turn things around when it comes to the belief from the fans and also his own players. Because if you start losing the dressing room, I’m not saying he has, but if you start losing, that’s when it’s game over.”