Jamie Carragher has expressed his dismay at Liverpool plans to appoint Arne Slot as their next manager and fears the Reds are suffering from a “dearth of top managerial options”, while Gary Neville has painted a worrying picture at Anfield.
The Reds are preparing for a new era this summer as the hugely-popular and successful Jurgen Klopp walks away after close to nine years on Merseyside. In his time in charge, Liverpool have won seven major honours and their success in winning the 2019 Champions League and 2020 Premier League title ensures he leaves Anfield as a bona fide club legend.
While Klopp walks away into the Majorcan sunset, where he owns a luxury villa, Liverpool FC are firmly fixed on landing upon the very best successor to the 54-year-old.
And after seeing first choice Xabi Alonso rule himself out of the running, Liverpool then took a long look at Sporting CP coach Ruben Amorim, before deciding against a move for the 39-year-old.
In the last couple of days, though, a new name has shot right to the front of their wishlist with Feyenoord coach Slot leaping right to the front of the queue.
The Reds have already had one approach for Slot rejected, but with talks set to continue at trying to thrash out a deal, it’s been explained why CEO of football, Michael Edwards, who is leading the hunt, has been attracted by the Dutchman’s brand of “crazy, sexy football”.
Carragher not convinced by Arne Slot to Liverpool
Sky Sports pundit, Carragher, however, is less than convinced and fears the Reds are taking a huge risk in approaching the 45-year-old.
Commenting on a lack of solid options for Liverpool, he has explained why he now fears the Merseysiders will suffer something of a drop-off when Klopp leaves and has offered a luke-warm reaction to talk of Slot taking the job.
“From Feyenoord to Liverpool is a huge jump and I think it shows at this moment that there’s probably a dearth of real top managers out there, when you look at who Liverpool are going for,” he told Sky Sports.
“Initially it was Xabi Alonso – it’s only his first full season as a manager – then there was talk of Ruben Amorim from Sporting, who’s only 39. Now Arne Slot is the favourite.”
Carragher feels the pressure on Slot, or whoever takes the job next, will be far greater than when Klopp arrived in 2015 or Rafa Benitez in 2004 in that Liverpool now have much greater expectations.
“I don’t think it’s like Benitez coming in, or Klopp,” he said. “Benitez coming in on the back of two LaLiga titles and a UEFA Cup, or Klopp winning a couple of league titles and getting to a Champions League final. Liverpool were actually in a different space then.
“That Liverpool team, certainly under Benitez that I was part of, we were the team trying to qualify for the top four. The same with Klopp when he came in.
“But Liverpool are in a different era now. They actually fancy themselves to challenge for the Premier League every season. Next season, in the Champions League they’d expect to get to the quarter-finals at least.
“I think it’s a huge jump but he’s obviously a great coach with a great track record so far. We’ll see.”
Next Liverpool boss: Gary Neville surprise as he predicts Reds downturn
Gary Neville, meanwhile, has spoken of his shock at Liverpool turning to Slot and suggests his appoint represents quite the gamble.
The former Manchester United man also predicts the Reds could suffer a drop-off not too dissimilar to that by Arsenal when Arsene Wenger departed, or the Red Devils when Sir Alex Ferguson eventually walked away.
“Jamie Carragher had told me two different managers so it wasn’t what he was expecting either.
“He’s a successful coach in Holland. I love Dutch coaches. There’s a way of coaching that comes back through some of the great coaches of the game.
“Obviously it’s a change going from the Dutch league to the English league. It’s a very different approach to Jurgen Klopp but I don’t think they could ever really appoint a manager that’s got the personality, character and force of Klopp.
“It’s interesting. It’s obviously something that’s been driven by Michael Edwards, in terms of them wanting a different approach.
“Maybe that’s why Edwards left Liverpool – because he clashed with Klopp. But now he’s got his own way and he’s bringing in someone he thinks is going to take Liverpool forward.
“We don’t know how that’s going to go. The reality of it is that we’ve seen the post-Arsene Wenger era at Arsenal has been difficult. The post-Sir Alex Ferguson era at Manchester United has been difficult. Klopp is massive in Liverpool so they’ve got to try to get that right.
“We thought it was going to be Xabi Alonso originally and then Ruben Amorim. Now it’s Arne Slot.
“Maybe he wasn’t No 1 on the list but the fact of the matter is that, if you can’t pin down who you want, you’ve got to move to the next one on the list. They’ll still have a good coach.”
Neville offers Liverpool some hope
Despite that, Neville has some words of encouragement for Liverpool and suggests the post drop-off will not be quite so serious given the legacy Klopp leaves behind and with the brains of the returning Edwards.
The recently-appointed CEO of football was seen as the brains behind the operation having agreed the deals to bring Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino to Anfield, before he then negotiated the record sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona and used the funds to sign Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker.
All five players proved hugely influential for the success Liverpool enjoyed under Klopp.
Speaking of the set-up Liverpool have in place, Neville added: “What Manchester United and Arsenal had when they replaced those two managers was a quite traditional, old-school approach, where the managers ran the club,” he said.
“They didn’t really have a sporting department beneath them. They were the heads of the sporting department. They were the heads of recruitment, sporting director, manager and coach – all in one.
“Liverpool have a better set-up, with more depth and more structure. There’s still going to be an element of risk replacing Klopp with anybody but it has to happen. Klopp is leaving.”
