Gary Neville has backed Arne Slot to remain in charge of Liverpool for next season and oversee a discernible improvement on a chastening 2025/26 campaign.
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Having won the Premier League at a canter a year ago, the Reds have sat outside the Champions League places for much of this term; and while a post-Easter resurgence has now made a top-five finish very likely, they’ve still fallen way short of initial expectations.
Some former LFC players have called for a change in the dugout ahead of the 2026/27 season, but FSG are expected to keep faith in the Dutchman for the time being.
Neville gives very early 2026/27 prediction for Liverpool
In a Fan Q&A for Sky Sports, Neville was asked if he believes Slot is capable of getting Liverpool ‘back to their best’ over the next 12 months.
He answered: “I think Slot should definitely be the manager next season and they should build around him, try and create a new team.
“Do I think they’ll be back to their best next season? No, I don’t think they’ll win the league next season, but I think they’ll get to a higher level than this season because I think they’ll add to the squad and they’ll refine it.”
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What should we expect from Liverpool for next season?
There are parallels between this season and 2020/21 for Liverpool – they went into both campaign as Premier League champions but endured a miserable title defence before enjoying a post-March revival.
Of course, the Reds still have a bit of work to do if they’re to clinch Champions League qualification, but the hope is that – like five years ago – salvaging that much will provide a platform for significant improvement over the subsequent 12 months.
If Slot is indeed retained as LFC head coach into August, it’s imperative that he does so off the back of sensible recruitment in the transfer market, with Mo Salah’s exit leaving a particularly large void to be filled in attack.
At least Liverpool will begin next season with a lesser weight of expectation than they had going into this campaign, when they were many pundits’ firm favourites to retain the title. They mightn’t necessarily be expected to challenge in 2026/27, but that could work in our favour.
There’s been plenty of harsh lessons to take from the past few months, both on and off the pitch. If the Reds act upon those going into the forthcoming campaign, they should at least be better equipped for improvement next term, even if Neville doesn’t see us reclaiming the crown we won last year.
So the Man Utd fan who hates LFC and doesn’t want them to do well, thinks we should definitely keep and build around one of the most disliked managers we have ever had, who has us below Utd and who he admits himself won’t win the league next season.
Sod off Gary! You would be delighted we kept him because he has very little to add to LFC now that he has destroyed the team. They play like old 4th division outfits – all fumble and dis-functional and as for a defence. Let’s not go there.
Bro everything needs time. Arne Slot is a world-class coach. It’s just that the team he has doesn’t favour much of his tactics. Arne Slot mixes the proactive with the chaotic. He believes in the creativity of the players, individual quality of a player especially for the wingers to be capable of one vs one. That’s why Rio Ngumoha has been shining whenever he comes on. If you look at the transfer targets you’ll see how Liverpool are targeting only skill-set quality players like Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola, Yan Diomande, Eduardo Camavinga, Micky Van De ven, Anthony Gordon etc.
I want to give Arne Slot time because he’s the right manager for Liverpool. A manager with a Plan A and Plan B
SHUT UP GARRY all we know is any man united fan is an enemy of LFC progress!