Salah and Van Dijk expressed serious thoughts about Arne Slot
Liverpool have parted ways with head coach Arne Slot after a disappointing season in which players such as Salah and Van Dijk lost confidence in his strategies.
Liverpool have decided to part ways with head coach Arne Slot last weekend. The 47-year-old Dutch coach had made a great start by winning the Premier League title in his first attempt. The Reds were expected to dominate the 2025/26 season – especially after spending £450million last summer. But the Anfield team continued to perform poorly in Slot's second season. The spell ended and Liverpool dropped from fifth place to fifth – 24 points less than their title-winning total. Slot also endured two disappointing domestic cup campaigns – including exits against Crystal Palace and Manchester City. And Paris Saint-Germain demolished Liverpool over two legs in the Champions League. He failed to survive his end-of-season review along with Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes, after which FSG sacked him last weekend. Andoni Iraola is replacing Slot in the Liverpool dugout - and now stories have started to emerge about the difficult days of Slot's reign. Players credit Klopp for winning the title SPORT BILD is carrying a surprising story stating that Liverpool players credit the work of Jurgen Klopp for winning the 2024/25 Premier League title. Richard Hughes and Slot only added Federico Chiesa to the squad before kick-off – meaning the team composition remained relatively unchanged. "While things were falling apart on the field (including losing nine out of twelve matches in the autumn), the consensus in the dressing room was that Slot's pursuit of the 2025 title was largely due to his predecessor, Jürge.
n was due to the work of Klopp (who was in charge of the team for nine seasons)," the report said. Van Dijk and Salah lost confidence in Slot The season deteriorated to such an extent that Mohamed Salah pleaded for his £400,000-a-week contract to be terminated. And the report said Salah and Virgil van Dijk – Liverpool's two dressing room leaders – significantly lost confidence in him at the end of Slot's second season. "Long-serving key players such as Mo Salah (33) and Virgil van Dijk (34) looked like Slot was running out of ideas," the report said. "Liverpool's attack became predictable, while their defense became increasingly weak. The proud club had not conceded 53 league goals since the 1990s. Many of these came very easily from long balls or set pieces, seven of which came in extra time. The club did not win any of the final four Premier League games of the season – including disappointing performances against Aston Villa and at home to Chelsea. They had no option but to pull it off.