Steven Gerrard has warned that Arne Slot’s position at Liverpool could come under serious threat if the club’s slide continues, branding the current situation at Anfield “worrying times”.
Liverpool, who spent a staggering £446 million on new signings last summer, sit 21 points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal. For a club that measures itself by title challenges and Champions League nights, they are now scrambling just to stay in the race for a top-four place. Gerrard does not like what he sees.
Gerrard’s warning for Slot
Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Liverpool captain made it clear that the pressure on Slot is no longer a distant theory but a very real possibility if results do not turn quickly.
“I think if the ownership and the people above, they see that gap, the Villa and United stretches or gets any worse, I worry for the manager's position,” Gerrard said. “I don't want to see that happen. I'm a huge fan of Arne Slot. I was blown away by his first season.”
That is the tension at the heart of this moment. Gerrard admires Slot. He praises his character and his work. Yet the numbers on the league table and the mood around the club tell a very different story.
“He's a good man, he's obviously a very, very good coach, the job he's done,” Gerrard added, before turning back to the brutal reality of elite football: admiration does not protect a manager when the gap to rivals keeps growing.
Fulham and PSG: a decisive week
For Gerrard, the next few days could define how the rest of Liverpool’s season – and Slot’s tenure – unfolds.
“I think the key to this situation will be the Fulham game,” he said. That fixture, in his eyes, is not just another league outing. It is a test of nerve.
If Liverpool can beat Fulham, apply pressure on Aston Villa and Manchester United, and then stay alive in their tie against PSG into next week, Gerrard believes the mood could flip quickly.
“If he can put more heat on United and Villa, and he can stay in the PSG game into next week, I think everything will be fine and in a better place in five, six days' time,” he argued.
The flip side is stark.
“But if this was to get any worse, I'd be worried for the manager, I must say.”
One week. Two competitions. A manager under the microscope.
Crumbling against City
What truly alarmed Gerrard was not just the defeat to Manchester City, but how Liverpool lost.
They created chances. They did not take them. Against City, that is usually fatal.
“They had the chances, which they never took, and I think we all know in the big games, you've got to take your chances when they come along,” Gerrard said.
City, he stressed, deserved credit.
“Take nothing away from City, they were outstanding over the course of the game,” he admitted.
But the story of the afternoon, from a Liverpool perspective, ran deeper than missed opportunities.
“It was really worrying and concerning the way Liverpool did crumble,” he said.
Crumble. A word that rarely sits next to Liverpool in the modern era. Under Jürgen Klopp, resilience and ferocity became part of the club’s identity. Anfield expected a response, a surge, a fightback. Gerrard’s concern is that this edge is slipping.
“That can't happen at Liverpool”
What troubled him even more were the words that came after the final whistle. Some players, in their post-match interviews, admitted there had been “no fight” and that they had “given the game up”.
For Gerrard, that crossed a line.
“Also even more alarming what the players are saying after the game, in terms of saying there's no fight, we gave the game up,” he said.
That, to him, clashes directly with everything Liverpool claim to stand for.
“At Liverpool football club, that can't happen on the pitch, and it certainly can't be said off the pitch, so worrying times, I must say.”
Investment has been heavy. Expectations even heavier. Now, with the gap to Arsenal huge and the chase for Champions League football in real danger, Liverpool enter a defining stretch.
Fulham at the weekend. PSG on the horizon. A fanbase on edge. And a manager Gerrard admires, walking a narrowing tightrope.
