Arne Slot believes Liverpool “postponed” inevitable problems of moving away from Jurgen Klopp era

Arne Slot believes Liverpool merely “postponed” the challenges of moving on from the Jürgen Klopp era by winning the Premier League title last season.

The Reds boss insists Fenway Sports Group are aligned with him on the issues now placing him under intense scrutiny after a disappointing campaign.

Slot inherited a largely unchanged squad after replacing Klopp in June 2024, but Liverpool underwent a major overhaul last summer, spending around £450m on new signings while recouping close to £300m in sales.

The transition has proven difficult, with further changes expected. Andy Robertson has confirmed he will join Mohamed Salah in leaving on a free transfer this summer, while Ibrahima Konaté’s future remains uncertain despite reports suggesting he is close to a new deal.

Slot admits that breaking up a successful team and managing the declining influence of long-serving players were key discussions with the club’s hierarchy from the moment he took charge.

“I’m not saying this is what we are seeing but this is one of the things we are aligned on – not now, but one-and-a-half years ago,” he said.

“It is normal in football that you have cycles. Mo and Robbo have announced they are leaving but I’m really happy that they have worked with all of the signings we did last summer because they (the new signings) have been able to see what the club means to them and how hard they work.

“It is a normal process at successful clubs, or any clubs, that there is an end to a cycle. That’s not something that is new to us. The great thing is that we maybe postponed that cycle with last season.”

Injuries, adaptation issues among several new signings, and the impact of Diogo Jota’s tragic death last July have all contributed to Liverpool’s struggles, leaving them battling for a top-five finish and on the brink of a Champions League exit after a 2-0 quarter-final first-leg defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

Slot has also revealed he is aligned with the club’s hierarchy – including sporting director Richard Hughes and FSG’s chief executive of football Michael Edwards – on the factors behind the team’s downturn this season.

“I can come up with all the reasons why this season has been so difficult,” said the Reds boss. “Everyone can see them so why should I always tell them (the reasons) as that becomes making excuses and it is not good to make excuses.

“They are so clear and obvious that everyone can see them. If you don’t want to see them for reasons, no problem. But it is so obvious and so clear, it is not difficult to see all the problems we faced.

“I cannot tell you what we are saying to each other but I think we all see the same. By that I mean the ownership, Richard, Michael, everyone. Everyone sees what is happening in front of our eyes and we are all aligned in what we are seeing and on the reasons for it.”

Slot added: “It’s not so easy to sit down with the owners because they are from America so, as you would expect, it’s phone calls and messages.

“With Richard, he is here a lot of the time and we are sitting down together and if he is not here then it is phone calls.

“But it’s not about every day they are saying ‘we support you, we support you’. It is talking through what we see is happening and, sometimes, it is not always needed to say ‘I am supporting you’ but you can feel that support. I’ve felt that support since I’ve been here and definitely recently.”

Liverpool will look to end a run of three straight defeats when they host ninth-placed Fulham on Saturday, aiming to boost their hopes of securing Champions League qualification.

Arne Slot is expected to rotate his squad for the second of three games in six days, with Andy Robertson, Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Rio Ngumoha and Curtis Jones all pushing for a start.

The Reds boss replied: “It is completely normal that you have doubts.. I don’t know if doubt is the right word but you should reflect on the decisions you make. That is not always to say when I have won I made the right decision and when we lose I make the wrong decision.

“The other day many say we changed the tactics towards PSG, we would never know the outcome would have been if we played the usual 4-3-3. Now I can understand people say this was the wrong decision because we lost 2-0.

“If you win things you think you make more right decisions than if we lose. I would question that to be honest, whether I made more right decisions last season when we won than this season. No one will see it like this.”

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