Danny Murphy has admitted to being ‘surprised’ at what he heard about Arne Slot’s future at Liverpool this week.
The Dutchman has faced intense scrutiny over his position as the Reds’ head coach amid a hugely disappointing season, although Sky Sports reported in recent days that FSG are expected to keep faith in him for the 2026/27 campaign.
The former LFC midfielder had already been calling for a change in the dugout, fearing that the 47-year-old’s reputation among the fan base had become broken, but it now looks very much as though the incumbent boss will be trusted to lead the team into next season.
Reacting to the reports that Slot is set to remain in charge, Murphy said on talkSPORT: “I’m a bit torn. I’m surprised by that. My gut feeling is Liverpool, generally, when the fans have turned to the level they have is that there’s no comeback.
“The finishing in the top five is obviously going to help his argument, because you’ve still got the revenue of Champions League football.”
He added: “I don’t see them becoming title contenders again next season if he stays. I’d think they’d have more of a chance [with a different coach] to go back to the type of football that Liverpool fans want, because I don’t think he’s going to do it.”
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With Liverpool in a strong position to salvage Champions League qualification (they’re five points clear of Brighton in sixth with a game in hand), that looks as though it’ll be enough for FSG to retain belief in Slot to instigate an improvement for next season.
However, if the Reds were to blow it from here, it’d surely become extremely difficult for the Dutchman to stay on, and we still have some fiendishly difficult fixtures to face in the next month.
Even if a top-five finish is achieved, much of the supporters’ scepticism around the head coach would remain, and he’d be under massive pressure to make a flying start to next season in order to dispel the doubts surrounding him.
Slot has had to contend with some enormous mitigating circumstances in recent months which have been outside his control, but there’s still a sense that he ought to be doing better with the players he’s had available to him (and they, in turn, ought to be contributing more as well).
Murphy doesn’t seem optimistic about Liverpool’s short-term future if the 47-year-old remains in charge, but for the Reds’ sake, let’s hope those fears prove to be unfounded. Ultimately, we all want the same thing – for this football club to be successful, whoever is involved in it.
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