Liverpool’s end-of-season collapse has turned Arne Slot’s future into the club’s most awkward question. The Dutch coach, who won the Premier League last season, is now being openly debated after a miserable 2025-26 campaign that left Liverpool limping toward the finish line.
That is why the question is being asked now. With the Premier League’s fifth slot likely to carry Liverpool into the Champions League, the club could end up qualifying on 59 points, a total that would sit among the lowest ever for a team reaching the competition. Liverpool’s 2003-04 side went through with 60 points before the club parted ways with Gérard Houllier, and Everton’s 61-point finish in 2004-06 is the next benchmark. Since then, no side has qualified for the Champions League with fewer than 70 points after a 66-point finish was noted in the discussion, which gives Liverpool’s current position an uncomfortable place in the record book.
The wider case against Slot is not just about results. A piece from The Liverpool Offside framed the issue bluntly, asking: “Should Arne Slot stay or should he go?” It also asked whether Liverpool should “stick or twist” and whether it was “Slot in or Slot out.” That tone reflects how far the team has fallen in 15-18 months, with the article saying Liverpool had no tactical identity in May, that the players looked exhausted and often could not run for more than 60 minutes, and that pressing efficiency, passing, chance creation and defensive structure had all declined.
There are explanations, but not many comforting ones. Richard Hughes oversaw last summer’s squad construction and is expected to be given a chance to correct those mistakes this summer, before he is expected to head to the Saudi league when the transfer window closes. Diogo Jota’s tragic passing was also cited as one reason Liverpool may have struggled, yet the piece argued there were no real silver linings beyond the likely Champions League qualification and no reason to think next season would suddenly improve on its own.
That is the part Liverpool cannot dodge. Slot won the league last season, but the football has regressed badly enough that a stumble to start next season could turn the mood at Anfield ugly fast if the club keep him and the same problems roll on. For now, the unresolved question is the only one that matters: whether Liverpool still see Slot as the man to lead them out of this slide, or whether a summer decision ends the argument before it gets any worse.
