Liverpool icon and former captain Steven Gerrard has dismissed speculation surrounding Arne Slot ’s potential dismissal, following the team’s shaky run of form in October.
The reigning Premier League champions endured a difficult month, failing to secure a single point from four league matches after a strong start that saw them win their opening five. Heading into Saturday night’s clash against Aston Villa at Anfield, they had suffered six defeats in their last seven outings.
Steven Gerrard, who recently ruled out a managerial return to Rangers, was on media duty for TNT Sports during the live broadcast from Anfield.
He watched as Liverpool secured a 2–0 victory over Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, with goals in each half from Mohamed Salah and the returning Ryan Gravenberch. The Reds delivered a confident performance in front of the home crowd, notably coinciding with Arne Slot’s decision to revert to his familiar starting lineup [aside from Mamardashvili and Ekitike], the same core that led him to the title last season.
A first Premier League start for vice-captain Andrew Robertson, replacing Milos Kerkez, saw Slot go back to the backline that played several times together last term. Then there were the usual midfield trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis MacAllister, and Dominik Szoboszlai, who were the engine room for Liverpool in winning the title.
After the final whistle, the cameras captured Steven Gerrard embracing Mohamed Salah and congratulating him on his 250th Liverpool goal before taking up the microphone to analyse the team’s performance on the night.
Speaking about Arne Slot, Gerrard did not hide his praise. ” Listen, the job he’d done from taking the reins off Jürgen Klopp was impeccable. He deserves a lot of praise for that. So that’s the reason why it’s been frustrating in the last few weeks, people calling for him to be sacked and for him to be changed.”
“That’s absolute nonsense. But if you make that many changes in a short space of time, there’s going to have to be a transitional period somewhere. Then, if you add a few injuries into that as well, it is a challenging time.
But to be fair to the manager, he’s tried to explain these situations in the media, and then people are accusing him of using excuses. He’s not. He’s explaining the reality and the facts of the situation.
But what he is saying is he’s game for fixing it, and he’s up for fixing it. And tonight’s the first chance he gets to do that.”
“I think he’s handled the last couple of weeks really well. He’s been calm. He has been under immense pressure, so have his players. But that’s the demand here at Liverpool Football Club, especially on the back of becoming champions. You don’t rest on that. It’s about parking that up and going for the next prizes. He’s handled it well. It’s a great win from a big win. He deserves a lot of credit for that. But they come thick and fast now.”
Gerrard also spoke of how tough the last few weeks have been, not just for the coach, but also for Virgil Van Dijk as Liverpool captain.
“You have to stick together, of course, and it’s your coach’s responsibility to make sure you’re protected from the outside noise. Of course, you’ve got to do your press duties and listen to it because you’re in and around the supporters, but as [McManaman] said, all that matters is working hard, trying to fix the issues you’ve got on the training pitch, and going out and showing what a good individual player you are, but also that you’re part of a really good, successful team. And that’s what Liverpool are. OK, they’ve had a rough spell, it hasn’t been good enough, the players have accepted the responsibility, the manager has, and they’ve bounced back tonight with a real professional performance.”
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