Former Liverpool goalkeeper Brad Friedel has urged the club to stick with Arne Slot, insisting he is "not even entertaining" the prospect of sacking the head coach.
Slot won the Premier League by 10 points and with four games to spare in his maiden campaign at Anfield but has found things much more difficult this time out, losing 10 of the 31 matches played so far.
The latest setback came in Saturday's 2-1 reverse at Brighton and the champions find themselves in a dogfight to make sure they are playing Champions League football next season as a result of the inconsistent results.
The difficult term has led to questions around Slot's future but former goalkeeper Friedel, who made 25 of his 450 Premier League appearances for Liverpool thinks talk of changing the manager is premature at this stage.
“I’m not even entertaining the idea of Arne Slot leaving, to be honest with you," Friedel told The Action Network. "I grew up a Liverpool supporter, I played for them and I’ve played for many other clubs.
"But if I put my football hat on and leave my heart out of it for a little bit, I’m not one of the pundits or football intellectuals who even think we should be talking about changing the manager.
"When you run a football club, you should always have backup plans in place - that’s the norm. But to actually think about pulling the trigger on it?
"I just don’t see it. You’ve invested a lot of money in players that he was part of bringing into the club, and I think a lot of those players are very good players.
"The Premier League is the hardest league to become accustomed to. There might be one club - Real Madrid - that is harder psychologically to go to, but from a league standpoint as a whole, the Premier League is the most difficult.
"Sometimes it takes top-quality players time to settle. If you take one of the best ever in Mo Salah, his early time in the Premier League wasn’t incredible when he was at Chelsea.
"I’m just not someone who’s thinking about changes. I think sticking with him and building continuity is the best idea. If you think back to the summer, spending the money is one thing, but they also had quite a turbulent off-season.
"There was a lot going on in the media, turbulence with Newcastle around the Alexander Isak move, and then he got injured.
"There was also quite a bit of turmoil with Mo Salah towards the end of last season, and with Trent (Alexander-Arnold) as well. It wasn’t all smooth sailing.
"When you have a lot of ‘football chaos’ going on, it’s much more difficult to get the squad solidified. I think there were other factors stifling their growth, and going into this summer, a lot of that should be gone.
"Of course, there are a couple of positions they should look to strengthen, but I think they should be doing that with Arne Slot and his staff.”
The American, who played for the Reds between 1997 and 2000, also identified three areas for the club to focus on this summer in the transfer window.
Friedel added: “There are three positions that Liverpool need to strengthen. I think they should go for a defensive centre midfielder, another centre-back, and they will need to add another attacking piece."
"But you also have to take into account that they’ve paid a lot of money, and put a lot of resources and energy into getting Isak in. So how will he fit in with Ekitike?
"Maybe they have to bring in one if Salah goes, and you’re right about Diaz - because he did a lot of work off the ball that went unnoticed. People probably notice that now he’s not there.
"So maybe they need someone who does a lot of that extra work, but I’d like to see a really top defensive midfielder and one more centre back come in.
"I think that would help the team a lot. They do have a lot of attacking options, but personally I would focus more on those two areas.”
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