Arne Slot just had to leave Anfield when the nearly 500 million pound plan was unfinished. After winning the Premier League in the 2023-2024 season, Arne Slot and Liverpool slid uncontrollably this season. Especially, having spent 487 million pounds last summer but only exchanged for disappointment, US owners are no longer patient with the Dutch coach.
The first challenge for Arne Slot's successor is the extremely complex personnel problem. In the summer of 2025, Liverpool will part ways with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez. By this summer, a series of other veterans have left the team such as Andy Robertson, Mohamed Salah and Ibrahima Konate. It is not yet known whether the remaining pillars such as Alisson Becker (33 years old) and Virgil van Dijk (34 years old) will also say unexpected goodbye after the 2026 World Cup.
Old personnel are gradually leaving, but new stars have not been able to meet expectations. Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz or Hugo Ekitike are all extremely expensive, but for many different reasons, their dedication is not continuous. Once a team that played physically, but looking at the current situation of the force with too many injuries, Liverpool is heavily questioned about their physical preparation for the increasingly fierce race in the Premier League.
People in the club's management board such as Richard Hughes (Sports Director) or Michael Edwards (CEO) were re-recruited in 2024 but seemed quite disappointed with the current upheavals of the team. Both are entering the final year of their contracts but there are no signs of wanting to extend them. There are even rumors that Hughes will arrive at Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2026.
At this time, the name mentioned most to sit in the hot seat at Anfield is Andoni Iraola. The captain of Bournemouth is on his way to leave Vitality Stadium after a successful season when he led this team to finish in 6th place in the Premier League. Iraola and Hughes have a very good relationship, so if they want to keep their Sporting Director, Liverpool needs to appoint Iraola as soon as possible to stabilize the situation.
Another thing is patience if Liverpool really appoints Iraola. When he came to work in the Premier League, Iraola had to play until the 10th match to get his first victory. Even with Bournemouth at the beginning of last season, they had a 11-match winless streak in the Premier League, before owning an 18-match unbeaten streak at the end of the season, even almost snatching a Champions League ticket from Liverpool.
The question now is whether Liverpool can play in Iraola's style with the current personnel? According to Opta statistics, Liverpool has performed more direct attacks (81) than any other team in the Premier League last season, except Bournemouth (83). The Kop is also the team with the most goals in the league (10) from quick counter-attacks. Iraola also wants to play strong attacks like Klopp did, but with names like Isak or Wirtz, is this method suitable?
In his final years at Anfield, when participating in Champions League matches, Klopp often tended to play more solidly to preserve the result, not daring to overdo it as before. Iraola is doing well in the Premier League but when holding a team of higher stature and playing in the Champions League, everything will be very different and is a measure of the class of the 43-year-old coach.
When Jurgen Klopp left his position, he left Liverpool with a squad capable of fighting for Arne Slot to take over. But now that Arne Slot has been sacked, what Andoni Iraola has received cannot achieve the expected good condition.
