Martin Keown believes Arne Slot can’t get sacked this season after winning the Premier League title in 2024/25.
The Dutchman faces fresh questions over his Liverpool future after the Reds succumbed to a 3-0 defeat at Anfield to Nottingham Forest.
It’s a result that left the reigning champions in 11th, eight points behind Arsenal (who had a game in hand). Though, judging by the current direction of travel (with the Gunners currently 3-1 up against Tottenham), that gap looks set to surpass double digits.
Liverpool can’t sack Arne Slot after Premier League success
Keown did admit that Liverpool’s struggles this term were utterly unprecedented in light of their recent success.
“I don’t think you can win the league one year and get sacked the next,” the former Arsenal star spoke on Final Score (via BBC Sport).
“It’s remarkable what we are seeing with Liverpool. Their fall from grace and to lose this many games at the start of the season, they are eight points behind top spot, it is unthinkable really from this time last season.”
However, a run of six defeats in the Reds’ last seven Premier League games should inspire some serious questioning.
Who exactly should bear the brunt of such an inquest into Liverpool’s unacceptably poor form in the English top-flight, of course, is up for debate.
Why are Liverpool struggling in 2025/26?
We’ve extensively covered the mitigating reality of Diogo Jota’s tragic passing in the summer and the ongoing impact on the squad.
Beyond that, it would be remiss of us to ignore the impact of the club’s creative fulcrum in Trent Alexander-Arnold leaving for Real Madrid.
Likewise, shaking up the squad with an influx of new signings, including two new fullbacks, has to be playing some part in our destabilisation.
Claudio Ranieri already proved Keown wrong with Leicester sacking
A Premier League-winning manager can’t be sacked in the following season? Claudio Ranieri will beg to differ.
The former Leicester City boss was sacked by his employers in February, with the Foxes a point above the relegation zone and only 13 league games left to play.
Things aren’t quite as dire over at Liverpool, it has to be said. Of course, one might also reasonably argue that considerably higher expectation levels on Merseyside should bring Arne Slot under considerable, if not yet equal, scrutiny.
| Arne Slot (yet to be sacked at Liverpool) | Claudio Ranieri (sacked at Leicester) |
| 18 points from 12 games (1.5 per game) | 21 points from 25 league games (0.84 per game) |
| 6 wins | 5 wins |
| 0 draws | 6 draws |
| 6 defeats | 14 defeats |
* Arne Slot’s managerial record at Liverpool in the 2025/26 season so far and Claudio Ranieri’s record in the 2016/17 season prior to his sacking (Premier League)
How much time does Slot have?
Obviously, by Liverpool’s lofty standards, a finish just outside the top four isn’t good enough – albeit, it’s unlikely to be a sackable offence.
The problem for decision-makers is judging the threshold for a Premier League-winning head coach. Should FSG call time on Arne Slot if the club is still languishing in the bottom half of the table come the new year? Should we grant him time to work with any potential new signings coming in through the door in January?
Our view on the matter is that the club is highly unlikely to wait until the end of February to act, should we still be waiting on solutions.
Ultimately, we have to budget enough time for any potential successor to come in and help steer the ship back to Champions League qualification safety.
But how much time would the Dutchman’s successor need? Should a break-glass option even be considered in the first place when there are so many mitigating factors to account for?
Sacking Slot just doesn’t look like an objectively simple decision to make – even if results indicate otherwise.
It’s a call that’s incredibly complex by virtue of the fact that there are mitigating factors beyond the manager’s control.
Switching the man in the dugout doesn’t necessarily negate these considerations.
Join our channel of readers on WhatsApp to get the day’s top stories straight to your mobile
Keep losing games and I can guarantee you that slot will be sacked. It’s a results business, the football club has invested heavily to do well in the premier league and crucially the champions league. Forget about last season that’s long gone. What I see happening now is almost identical to what happened to Brendan Rodgers. The season before we should have won the league, we scored over a hundred goals but couldn’t defend. FSG backed Rodgers in the transfer market and we got worse and by October he was sacked. Rodgers like slot never achieved anything of note before Liverpool. Not proven top class managers who can handle the dressing room with star players and their egos. No charisma or leadership, yes men out of their depth. I think slot will be sacked before Christmas, we don’t look like winning away from home, and can’t beat teams like forest at Anfield the writing is on the wall. The biggest question is who’s next after slot. They need to get that one right. A proven manager with a winning track record that’s won in the premier league, not the Dutch league . Otherwise we will sink into oblivion. The most important person at any football club is the manager. Look at manager’s Manchester United and Chelsea have gone through. Pick the wrong manager you go backwards. I don’t care what players you sign. Goes to prove how good klopp was. FSG should have done more to keep him, now we are paying the price.
Hi fella, cheers for the comment! I completely agree that it is results-driven and it will decide Slot’s fate ultimately, sooner or later. But I would also urge caution when there are mitigating factors and we don’t know who the next man is.
Don’t think there is anyone suitable in the market right now to take over from slot. A total rebuild takes time and players will leave. We have a team of talents right now. Unless Carlo ancelotti is available to be an interim head coach, he has the charisma to manage galaticos. Liverpool is not the same as other clubs. They use technology and statistics to determine which players are suitable. There is no manager as the responsibilities are delegated separately. Transfer matters are out of the hands of the head coach. Not everyone can work under such system and succeed at Liverpool. Klopp tried and he won all trophies available but he was exhausted at the end. We don’t see too many klopps around right now.
Ancelotti is good at managing spoiled babies because he lets them do what they want. He was poor at Everton.
For me we need Iraola, as he understands the Prem and is tactically robust.
Otherwise it is Flick or Nagelsman. No other candidates that are obtainable.
Pipe dream would be Enrique.
Everton never had a team of galaticos. Ancelotti is well respected by the big names and he has shown it at real Madrid. They do not play a fool with him around.
As for the other candidates, flick and Enrique are good but unavailable. Would not take a risk with iraola and nagelsmann as they are similar to slot. Nagelsmann failed at bayern where there are big names and iraola has never managed big names.