Liverpool
Arne Slot sits alone: Liverpool’s season of collapse, the Salah fallout, and an uncertain future
Last Updated on 26 May 2026
- Liverpool finished fifth in 2025/26, suffering 12 Premier League defeats and winning zero trophies
- A public breakdown between Slot and Mohamed Salah dominated the second half of the season
- Slot benched Salah for both legs of the Champions League quarter-final loss to PSG
- A Sky Sports poll found 92% of Liverpool fans siding with Salah over Slot
- FSG executives Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes are conducting a full end-of-season review before deciding Slot’s future
The final whistle at Anfield on Sunday brought mixed emotions to Liverpool FC supporters.
Liverpool secured the Champions League qualification they desperately needed against Brentford FC, and the players took to the pitch for what should have been a joyous lap of honour, bidding farewell to club icons Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson.
But amid the colour and emotion of a packed Anfield, one image instantly stood out.
Arne Slot sat alone on the bench, visibly detached from the celebrations unfolding only metres away.
Television cameras repeatedly showed the Dutchman watching on from the dugout as players connected with supporters. For many fans across social media, it became the defining image of Liverpool’s troubled 2025/26 campaign.
Liverpool’s 2025/26 collapse: 12 defeats, no trophies, fifth place
Twelve months ago, Arne Slot was being celebrated as one of European football’s brightest managerial minds.
In his debut campaign at Anfield, the Dutchman guided Liverpool to their 20th English league title, finishing ten points clear of Arsenal FC and becoming the first Dutch manager ever to win the Premier League.
He was named LMA Manager of the Year. He was hailed as the perfect successor to Jürgen Klopp. The future looked bright.
Then came the 2025/26 season and a collapse that few at the club saw coming.
Liverpool suffered 12 Premier League defeats across the campaign, failed to win a single trophy in any competition, and stumbled to a fifth-place finish after spending large portions of the season outside the top four altogether.
The optimism of the title-winning year evaporated quickly as results became inconsistent, performances grew laboured, and the atmosphere inside Anfield turned increasingly tense.
Criticism focused most sharply on a perceived shift in Liverpool’s identity. The aggressive, high-tempo, emotionally charged football that had defined the Klopp years gave way to something more cautious and harder to read.
Supporters who had grown accustomed to end-to-end spectacles found themselves watching a team that too often struggled to impose itself on matches even at home.
By spring 2026, Anfield no longer felt united behind its manager.
Mohamed Salah vs Arne Slot: the public fallout explained
No issue highlighted Liverpool’s internal problems more than the breakdown in the relationship between Slot and Mohamed Salah.
Last December, Salah delivered explosive comments after a defeat at Elland Road, claiming that “someone” at the club wanted him to “take all the blame” for Liverpool’s worst run of form in more than seven decades.
The Egyptian forward also admitted his previously strong relationship with Slot had deteriorated badly.
Tensions only escalated from there.
Following the defeat to Aston Villa FC, Salah publicly urged Liverpool to rediscover their “heavy metal football” identity – a phrase closely associated with Klopp’s era.
More damaging for Slot was the public support Salah received from teammates including Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones and Robertson.
Liverpool’s record without Salah also became impossible to ignore.
The Reds failed to win any of the nine Premier League matches in 2026 in which Salah did not start, further increasing scrutiny on Slot’s tactical decisions.
A subsequent Sky Sports poll reportedly showed 92 per cent of supporters siding with Salah over Slot a statistic that underlined how fragile the manager’s relationship with the fanbase had become.
Salah benched for PSG: the Champions League quarter-final controversy
The single decision that provoked the most widespread criticism of Slot’s management came in the Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain FC.
Slot benched Salah for both legs of the tie. Liverpool lost the quarter-final and were eliminated. The numbers that emerged afterwards were damning in context: despite playing only 59 of the 180 available minutes across the two legs, Salah still created more chances against Luis Enrique’s side than any other Liverpool player.
For many supporters, it was a decision that was simply impossible to justify. For Slot’s critics inside and outside the dressing room, it provided the clearest possible evidence that something had gone fundamentally wrong between manager and player and that the club was suffering the consequences on the pitch.
Will Arne Slot be sacked? What FSG’s review means for Liverpool
The question that now dominates conversation around Anfield is a straightforward one: will Arne Slot still be Liverpool’s manager next season?
Reports suggest that key figures within Fenway Sports Group are divided. Senior executives Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes are understood to be conducting a detailed end-of-season review before any final decision is made public.
FSG have historically preferred to avoid prolonged uncertainty around their management structures — but the growing noise around Slot has made a clean resolution increasingly difficult.
Champions League qualification secured on the final day softens the financial blow of a poor season and gives the club leverage in the summer transfer market regardless of who is in charge.
But it does not resolve the deeper structural and cultural questions that have built up over the course of twelve months.
Slot himself has said little publicly. His body language after the Brentford match alone on the bench, watching from a distance as others celebrated may prove a more honest expression of where things stand than any press conference answer.
Liverpool’s summer rebuild: replacing Salah, Robertson and an identity
Whatever FSG decide about Slot’s future, Liverpool face a challenging summer of reconstruction.
Replacing Mohamed Salah is the most pressing and most complex task. The Egyptian departs as one of the greatest players in the club’s history; a generational goalscorer whose creative output, as the PSG statistics alone demonstrated, remained irreplaceable even at the tail end of his Anfield career.
Finding a player who can even partially replicate his influence on a Liverpool attack will require both significant investment and considerable luck.
Andy Robertson’s departure closes another chapter. The Scottish left-back was among the most important players of the Klopp era and remained a vital figure in the dressing room even as his playing time reduced.
His exit removes experience, leadership and direct connection to the club’s most successful recent period.
Beyond personnel, Liverpool also need to rediscover an identity. The “heavy metal football” Salah referenced is not simply a tactical system, it is a way of approaching the game that generates momentum, lifts supporters and puts opponents under psychological pressure from the first whistle.
Whether that requires a change of manager or a fundamental reset within Slot’s existing framework is the question that the summer will answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
No official decision has been announced. FSG executives are conducting an end-of-season review, and reports suggest the ownership group is divided. A decision is expected before pre-season begins.
Liverpool suffered 12 Premier League defeats across the 2025/26 season, finishing fifth.
Slot has not given a detailed public explanation. The decision was widely criticised — Salah created more chances than any other Liverpool player despite playing just 59 of the 180 available minutes across the two legs.
Yes. Liverpool secured Champions League qualification on the final day of the season with a result against Brentford FC.
The breakdown became public in December 2025 when Salah suggested someone at the club was scapegoating him. Tensions escalated over Slot’s tactical approach and culminated in Salah publicly calling for a return to Liverpool’s “heavy metal football” identity.
Mohamed Salah departed at the end of the 2025/26 season. Andy Robertson also left the club at the same time.
