Liverpool returned from the international break with a 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest, and followed up that loss with a 4-1 mauling at the hands of PSV in the Champions League. The midweek reverse against the Dutch side means the Reds have lost nine of their last 12 games in all competitions, with pressure mounting on Slot to turn the club’s fortunes around.
The Reds will hope to get their season back on track when they face West Ham on Sunday afternoon, though even that will prove easier said than done. The Hammers, resurgent since sacking Graham Potter, are on a run of two wins and one draw in their last three league outings as they look to boost their survival hopes and claim a major Premier League scalp in the process.
Defeat in the capital this weekend will heighten calls for the club to sack Slot. Even so, former Liverpool midfielder Hamann believes that the “end is near” for the former Feyenoord boss on Merseyside.
On the pressure mounting on Slot, Hamann, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, told Sky Sport Germany: “Slot’s end is near. I never thought it would come to this after the brilliant season he had, but I believe his credit has now run out.
“I believe Arne Slot has lost control of the team. It’s falling apart, everyone is doing what they want, like Salah before PSV’s second goal. Liverpool will have major problems finishing in the Premier League top four. I don’t believe these problems can be solved quickly or easily.The situation is so complex that the club will certainly be discussing the manager’s position.”
Attention has even turned to who could succeed Slot at the Anfield helm, with Real Madrid boss and former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso and current Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann mooted as potential successors for the Dutchman. And some Reds fans are pining for Jurgen Klopp to make a dramatic return to Merseyside in the foreseeable future.
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Klopp left Liverpool at the end of the 2023-24 season and took up a role with Red Bull at the start of this year. Hamann has suggested that Liverpool could look to try and tempt the 58-year-old back into management, adding: “Many are already longing for Jurgen Klopp’s return. If you ask the fans, many will surely say: ‘That would be something.’
“How likely is it that he’ll return to Liverpool? I have no idea. But it would be the story of the decade.The club will already have considered alternative managers. I assume they’ve spoken with Klopp.”
Hamann’s claims come after former Reds defender Jamie Carragher suggested Slot has a week to save his job. Liverpool follow up Sunday’s game against West Ham at the London Stadium with the midweek welcome of Sunderland and a trip to Leeds next weekend and Carragher has warned that “anything fewer than seven points will make an already unacceptable situation untenable”.
Writing in his weekly column for the Telegraph Carragher stated: “Arne Slot has a week to save his job. It is hard to believe that sentence is being written, but Liverpool’s next three games are against West Ham United, Sunderland and Leeds United. Anything fewer than seven points will make an already unacceptable situationuntenable.
“No one knows better than me how much that reality will be hurting everyone connected with my old club. Liverpool do not willingly sack coaches, especially those that bring great success.
“After Slot won the Premier League in his first season, he seemed destined for a long stay on Merseyside too. Now, just six months later, he is hanging on.”
On Slot’s tactical changes, Carragher added: “It felt wrong on day one of the season, and it has led to a mess right now.”
