Arne Slot can be replaced by a record-breaking manager.
Whether you like him or not, the Dutchman will forever be remembered for his contributions at Anfield.
He won the Premier League in his first season, and sure he benefitted from what Jurgen Klopp had built but he also made tweaks that were instrumental in Liverpool lifting the league title.
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But none of that negates the fact that, this season he is completely culpable and out of his depth.
Since winning the Premier League, Liverpool have gone on one of the worst runs in the club’s history.
Slot won less than 50% of his games in 2025. He’s maintained that record in 2026. The Reds have won just 13 of their last 26 games.
Since winning their first five games of the season, Liverpool have only won 12 matches in the Premier League in 29 games.
That is simply not good enough, and there is no going back from this.
For a club of Liverpool’s stature, that level of performance is simply unacceptable, and it increasingly feels like there is no clear path back from this decline.
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It’s only thanks to the decline of Manchester United and Chelsea that Liverpool are still in a position where they can salvage the season.
Long-term the club needs change and that change has to be appointing a manager who truly understands what it takes to reach an elite level and work with world-class players. Someone who can deliver attractive and successful football and someone who is very good at pressing his opponents.
Slot doesn’t grasp this.
But Liverpool need another gegenpressing genius. Someone who resonates with what the fans want and can create heavy metal football at Anfield again.
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There’s an obvious but niche candidate for this, who many not have heard of.
Matthias Jaissle.
He’s only 38-years-old but he already has an impressive resume. Jaissle managed Red Bull Salzburg’s first-team and won the Austrian Bundesliga in his first season at the club – and then he did it in his second season.
Under Jaissle, Salzburg were a force in Europe as well, and he brought the best out of a lot of young players including Benjamin Sesko.
A German like Klopp, Jaissle is a huge devotee of gegenpressing football. He left Salzburg to join Al-Ahli and worked with Roberto Firmino briefly in the Saudi Pro League.
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Jaissle recently broke a record by winning the AFC Champions League for the second time with Al-Ahli becoming the first manager ever in the competition’s history to lift the trophy twice in consecutive seasons.
And he’s done all of this before the age of 40. Not bad.
The style, his achievements, the fact that he likes to work with young players and develop them. Jaissle seems like the perfect fit for Liverpool.
And now that he’s won and achieved pretty much everything he can in Saudi, surely this is the moment for him to come back to Europe.
If he does, he is a perfect candidate to replace Slot.
Read the full article here
