{"id":474795,"date":"2026-05-30T13:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T13:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/474795\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T13:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T13:49:09","slug":"liverpool-sack-arne-slot-after-two-years-with-andoni-iraola-in-line-to-replace-him-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/474795\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool sack Arne Slot after two years with Andoni Iraola in line to replace him \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liverpool<\/a> have sacked Arne Slot<\/a> after a troubled Premier League<\/a> title defence and are likely to turn to Andoni Iraola<\/a> to replace him. <\/p>\n

Slot has been dismissed with immediate effect and, Liverpool say, with great reluctance after a review into a season that was overshadowed by the death of Diogo Jota and featured 19 defeats in all competitions.<\/p>\n

With Champions League qualification secured on the final day, and the Liverpool hierarchy claiming for several months that they backed the Dutch coach, the 47-year-old had expected to remain at the helm.<\/p>\n

However, Liverpool feel the team\u2019s playing style needs to evolve to a more aggressive, front-foot approach and respond to changes within the Premier League. That vision increases the likelihood of Iraola \u2013 who was appointed Bournemouth\u2019s head coach by Richard Hughes, now Liverpool\u2019s sporting director \u2013 being appointed as Slot\u2019s successor.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ken Early: Liverpool have become awfully comfortable with losing under Arne SlotOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In a statement on the club\u2019s website, the ownership wrote: \u201cThat this was a difficult decision for us to make as a club goes without saying. The contribution Arne has made to Liverpool FC in the time that he has been with us has been significant, meaningful and \u2013 most importantly of all to supporters and ourselves \u2013 successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs such, our appreciation for everything he has achieved could not be greater, particularly as it was underpinned by a work ethic, a diligence and a level of expertise which further underlined our view that he is a leader in his field.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the moment that we first encountered Arne, it was immediately clear that he is an individual who does not merely accept responsibility, he embraces it. This was evident when he agreed to take over as head coach, when he guided us to the Premier League title and throughout the season just ended when he faced considerable challenges and burdens.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, we have collectively come to the conclusion that change is necessary in order for the club to keep moving forward. Again, it must be stressed that this is not a decision which has been reached lightly, anything but.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement also paid tribute to the Dutchman\u2019s handling of Jota\u2019s death, saying: \u201cHe also helped guide the club through one of the most difficult periods imaginable following the loss of Diogo. The compassion and humanity he showed throughout that time said a great deal about him as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ThereThere was some disharmony in the Liverpool dressing room during Arne Slot’s tenure, with Mohamed Salah the most outspoken. Photograph: Peter Byrne\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

However, the statement continued: \u201cNevertheless, the conclusion we have come to is built on a belief that the team\u2019s trajectory is best addressed through a change of direction. That does not diminish the work Arne has done here, or the respect we have for him. Nor is it a reflection of his talents. Rather, it is indicative of the need for a different approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cArne leaves with our gratitude, with a Premier League title to his name, and with the knowledge that he and his family will always be welcomed back at Anfield.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liverpool want to install a replacement quickly and Iraola is available having left Bournemouth. The 43-year-old has interest from AC Milan, Bayer Leverkusen and Crystal Palace, but has not committed to the next phase of his impressive coaching career so far.<\/p>\n

Slot guided Liverpool to a record-equalling 20th league title in his first season at the club and made the transition from the J\u00fcrgen Klopp era appear seamless. Liverpool acknowledge that his dismissal appears unfair in the context of that achievement plus the manner in which he has conducted himself during his two years in charge.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Mohamed Salah will long be remembered as one of Liverpool\u2019s best playersOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

But after investing almost \u00a3450 million in new signings last summer, Liverpool regressed badly and supporters turned on the team\u2019s style of play in the final months.<\/p>\n

Liverpool could consider themselves unfortunate to draw Manchester City in the FA Cup and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, but their title defence deteriorated badly. With the exception of Hugo Ekitike, new signings, such as \u00a3116 million Florian Wirtz and \u00a3125 million British record signing Alexander Isak, failed to produce, established players such as Mohamed Salah, Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 and Alexis Mac Allister suffered a severe drop-off in form. Problems at set pieces and in open play blighted the team all season.<\/p>\n

Slot\u2019s methods were called out by Salah before he left the club and the head coach kept his distance from the team during their lap of honour at Anfield on the final day.<\/p>\n

Against a backdrop of fan and team unrest, Liverpool came to the conclusion that Slot\u2019s departure was inevitable at some point and have acted now to avoid disrupting next season. Slot\u2019s backroom staff are also expected to leave, although there has been no announcement from the club on their positions as yet. \u2212 Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool have sacked Arne Slot after a troubled Premier League title defence and are likely to turn to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[16118,38998,42,1547,23201,43,1102,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-474795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-arne-slot","tag-diogo-jota","tag-headlines","tag-liverpool-fc","tag-mohamed-salah","tag-news","tag-premier-league","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}