News of Liverpool Football Club sacking Arne Slot came to a surprise to fans on Saturday. As the football world races to play catch up, some former players have come out with the opinions on not just Slot’s dismissal but also the strong suggestion that his replacement will be Andoni Iraola.
Speaking on Sky News, former Liverpool goalkeeper Sander Westerveld made the, frankly, absurd declaration that Slot had not, in fact, lost the dressing room. This is ignoring the fact that the normally PR-minded
Mohamed Salah spoke out publicly about him, not once, but twice this season before parting ways with the club for good.
“Qualifying for Champions League is the only thing he had to do, and he did,“ Westerveld claimed, ”so I think that they should have given [Slot] more time.“
A wild statement about a club going into this season as defending league champions. In the end, was qualifying for the Champions League the only thing Slot needed to do? Well, yes, because it was literally the only thing left that they could do to salvage the season, and he still barely managed that by the skin of his teeth.
Westerveld continues, “I’m a little bit disappointed with some of the fanbase as well. The last couple of weeks or month or whatever, everyone had a go at Slot, and that’s not Liverpool. The way he was treated in the press. Not by the press, but more with the fans…”
“Two weeks ago, I was at the International OLSC Supporters’ Club Gala at Anfield, where it’s all the supporters from all over the world came together. They were all complaining about him, like, ‘Oh, how could he have sold Díaz? And he should have this. And he lost the dressing room. He never lost the dressing room. Nobody ever spoke in the press that he lost the dressing room.’” [Editor’s note: ??!??]
Liverpool legend and former captain Steven Gerrard went on TNT Sports for their Champions League final coverage and gave his assessment of the situation.
“Not surprised,” Gerrard said. However, he showed compassion and commiseration with the Dutchman, adding, “Gutted for Arne Slot, because in his first year, he had done an incredible job. Taking the reins from Jurgen Klopp, that was a tough task and big shoes to fill, and he had done it seamlessly. It’s very difficult to win the Premier League, and I know that more than most, so for him to deliver that in year one cannot be forgotten, so I think he will go down in the history books and be remembered forever. Having said that, in the last ten games of last season and the majority of this season, we have not looked like Liverpool. The style…it has been difficult to watch at times. It looks disjointed, broken, and when I got the news, of course, your initial reaction is surprise and shock, but when you analyse it properly, it’s probably the right time in my opinion.”
In other news, former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey was asked his opinion on Andoni Iraola, who has been strongly linked to position. The Bournemouth manager announced he’d be leaving the Cherries and all eyes turned to him when news of Slot’s sacking broke.
Heskey is behind the decision, saying, “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 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 gungho. That’s Iraola.”
As the weekend continues, and after the pressing matter of the Champions League final concludes, more pundits and former players will surely provide their opinions at this huge news. Things are still up in the air, but many journalists and betting sites seem firm on the stance that it will be Iraola who picks up the pieces this summer and tries to move the team forward.
