Jamie Redknapp warned that Arne Slot will face early pressure if Liverpool do not start next season strongly, and urged supporters and the club to remember the manager’s first-season success even as frustration grows over a faltering title defence.
Redknapp said Liverpool’s fan base understands the game “really well” and that their anger at this season’s football — which he described as too slow and sometimes pedestrian, albeit with mitigating circumstances — is understandable. He added that Slot will “need a little bit of help next year” because the price of a poor start would be paid immediately by the manager.
Those comments come as Liverpool are believed to be satisfied with retaining Arne Slot for next season after a turbulent second year in charge. Slot secured the Premier League title in his first season at Anfield, but this campaign saw the club suffer 20 defeats and finish fifth.
The numbers sharpen why the decision matters: a title-winning debut followed by a fifth-place finish and 20 losses leaves little room for complacency. Liverpool’s hierarchy are reported to have no plans at present to part company with Slot, even while his future has been the subject of considerable speculation.
That speculation has produced a list of potential successors who would be ripe for consideration should Fenway Sports Group change course. One name repeatedly linked with the job is Andoni Iraola — the 43-year-old who confirmed he will leave Bournemouth this summer and is reportedly open to the Liverpool role. It was reported that Iraola entered talks with AC Milan; those discussions are said to have broken down. He has also attracted interest from Crystal Palace and is understood to be open to a move to Bayer Leverkusen.
The friction is straightforward and immediate: many supporters have lost faith in Slot’s style and the team’s form, yet the club appears inclined toward continuity. That gap — between supporter sentiment and boardroom inclination — is what will define the early days of the next campaign. Redknapp framed that fault line plainly: trust the club, he said, but recognize Slot needs reinforcement and that patience will be thin if results lag.
Context deepens the issue without changing its shape. Liverpool’s title defence unravelled over the course of Slot’s second season; the contrast with the first-season triumph is stark and fuels both the backlash and the argument for stability. The club’s current position — satisfied to keep Slot, with no active plan to dismiss him — buys time but not immunity.
The most consequential unanswered question is whether that patience will survive a rough start. Liverpool have chosen continuity for now; the test is whether Fenway Sports Group will stand by Slot if early results mirror the defeat-laden campaign just ended. Redknapp’s prediction that pressure will arrive “very early” if Liverpool do not start well hangs over the summer: the club has given Slot another chance, but a short leash is already part of the calculus.
