Liverpool information: Xabi Alonso warning despatched as Arne Slot informed ‘Mohamed Salah was right’
Liverpool legend Xabi Alonso is reportedly in talks with Chelsea, as Arne Slot’s future at the Spanish manager’s former club remains in doubt
Arne Slot’s Liverpool have been woeful this season(Image: PA)
Arne Slot may still enjoy the support of Liverpool’s hierarchy for the time being, but reports linking Xabi Alonso with the Chelsea position have hightened speculation about his future.
Slot has faced fierce criticism this campaign as Liverpool limp towards a top-five finish. The Dutchman undoubtedly retains some goodwill following his remarkable Premier League triumph last term. However, enduring a trophyless season alongside 11 league defeats has prompted some supporters to demand a change at the helm.
Saturday’s 1-1 stalemate with Chelsea witnessed Anfield erupt in fury, with thunderous boos ringing out for Slot when the final whistle sounded. Liverpool legend Alonso has remained a dream appointment for some fans should the club decide to seek fresh leadership. Here’s all the latest news from Anfield.
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Xabi Alonso warning issued
Jamie Carragher has cautioned Liverpool that they could live to regret allowing Xabi Alonso to join Chelsea, reports the Mirror.
The Blues dismissed Liam Rosenior just three months into his six-year deal back in April. They have reportedly pinpointed Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola, Fulham’s Marco Silva and former Real Madrid chief Alonso as prime contenders.
Ex-Bayer Leverkusen boss Alonso switched to Real last summer, but left shortly after the new year began as he failed to control the dressing room at the La Liga giants, and the Blues could provide him with a pathway back into management.
Reds icon Carragher said: “I always felt Xabi would manage Liverpool at some stage. Now, I think once you manage one of Liverpool’s rivals, as Chelsea are, I think it makes it a little bit more difficult.
“I don’t see how you go from Chelsea to Liverpool, maybe a bit down the road, but I think it makes it more difficult. But he has to do what’s best for him right now, and I think there will be Liverpool supporters right now looking at that situation thinking, ‘That’s the one we want.'”
Speaking on Monday Night Football, the former Liverpool defender also insisted Alonso would pick his former club over Chelsea, should the choice present itself.
He said: “I think he would love to manage Liverpool one day, I’m sure he would, but Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in European football right now.
“There will be a feeling from a lot of Liverpool supporters that Xabi Alonso’s there and, if we want him, I think he would come to us because there is history with the club, but it looks like the club have made their decision on Slot.
“What tells you they’ve made their decision on Slot is that there’s talks between Xabi Alonso and Chelsea. If there was an inkling that Liverpool were interested in him or that they were gonna change the manager, I think he would go to Liverpool.”
Mohamed Salah’s ‘standards’ claim backed
Former Liverpool star Joe Cole reckons Salah was justified in demanding that standards must be maintained at Anfield after his departure this summer.
The winger’s remarks, expressing concerns about who will lead by example, and the need to work hard in the gym, were seen as a dig at the current atmosphere at L4 and Arne Slot hit back at the comments ahead of Saturday’s 1-1 stalemate with Chelsea.
Slot said he agreed standards were “really important” and said he wasn’t worried they would be lower next season without Salah. When it was put to him that new signings perhaps hadn’t grasped what it means to play for Liverpool, he replied: “I wish I was able to say what I feel at this moment, but I can’t.”
Slot added: “I am completely convinced that we have enough players next season, and, add to that, the ones that we will sign, to put the standards exactly into the place they are needed. The standards are not only important in the gym. It’s also on the pitch. Okay….” Slot later added: “You understand me? Without me saying anything?”
Cole told Paddy Power: “Salah is well within his rights to have an opinion on the team. He’s been there for so long. Mo’s a good guy, I’m sure his comments were coming from a good place to help Liverpool.
“Sometimes when players say things it can come from frustration with the manager. Things aren’t going well for him on the pitch for the first time in a decade, he’s been that good a player.
“But I think he’s correct. It looks like there aren’t the same personalities in the team as they once had [to set those standards] and that needs to be addressed in the summer.
“You need to look at this whole season in context of everything that has happened on and off the pitch. From the dreadful Diogo Jota situation, [Alexander] Isak’s saga in the summer and his injury, Hugo Ekitike’s injury and also Mo Salah’s dip in form.
“They need to start next season by drilling down on the culture and getting back to what Liverpool are as a club.”
Salah insisted Liverpool required individuals who would maintain the club’s elevated standards behind the scenes following his departure, telling Sky Sports: “I just want to have that standard at the club because it is very, very important for people to keep winning things. This is one of the main concerns for me.”
