Arne Slot said something ‘insulting’ to the new Liverpool players before he was let go.
Former Liverpool coach Arne Slot reportedly hurt his relationship with some players by making rude comments during his time at Anfield.
Even though he won the Premier League in 2025, Slot was let go on May 30 after leading Liverpool to a disappointing fifth place and a season without any trophies.
He has now been replaced by Andoni Iraola, who used to coach Bournemouth. The club shared the news about the Spanish coach on their social media on Thursday, June 4.
After leaving Liverpool, Slot has been linked to top jobs, including roles at AC Milan in Serie A and Fulham in the Premier League. Dutch journalist Marcel van der Kraan also said Slot might be interested in becoming the Netherlands national team coach after the World Cup, taking over from Ronald Koeman.
Reports say Slot’s relationship with some players got worse toward the end of his time at Liverpool. German newspaper BILD said that his straightforward criticism sometimes turned into arrogance and personal attacks, which annoyed the team.
When Bayern Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt players Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, and Hugo Ekitike joined Liverpool last summer, Slot reportedly asked them, “Did you win the Premier League?” while talking about their playing style, adding, “You can play like that in Germany.” Several other players with Bundesliga experience, like Alexander Isak, Ibrahima Konaté, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, and Wataru Endo, were also at Liverpool.
Results went downhill in autumn 2025, with Liverpool losing nine of 12 games. Many in the team felt that Slot’s success in 2024/25 was mostly thanks to the work of the previous coach, Jürgen Klopp. Senior players Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk started to lose confidence in Slot, thinking he was running out of new ideas.
Salah later spoke openly about wanting a change in how the team played, hoping for a return to the “heavy metal” football style of Klopp’s time.
In an Instagram post in May, Salah wrote: “I have watched this club go from doubters to believers, and from believers to champions. It took hard work and I always did my best to help the club succeed. Nothing makes me prouder than that.”
He added, “I want to see Liverpool go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and a team that wins trophies. That’s the kind of football I know and love, and that’s the identity we need to keep. It must never be forgotten, and everyone who joins this club should fit into it. Winning some games here and there is not enough for Liverpool. All teams win some games.”