Liverpool are enduring an on-field crisis unlike anything they have experienced in the past decade.
Defeat after defeat has begun to take its toll on fans' patience with some calling for the Premier League-winning boss Arne Slot to be removed from his post.
Following the Reds’ 1-4 loss to PSV at Anfield last Wednesday, even Slot’s sternest defenders must now consider the possibility of saying farewell to the Dutchman. Here are five managers that could potentially steady the waning Liverpool ship.
The Returning Legend
Liverpool fans face a dilemma when confronted with the possibility of Steven Gerrard, one of the club’s all-time legends, returning to the fray in a managerial capacity. While there’s nothing on the Englishman’s CV to suggest he can lead this latest iteration of the Reds to success, there are signs that he can temporarily plug the car’s leaking gas tank.
In a season defined largely by the passing of Diogo Jota, Liverpool’s late talisman who died alongside his brother André Silva in July, it’s hard to shake the feeling that this team is facing an internal agony that far surpasses the external miseries we’re witnessing on the pitch each week.
Perhaps the squad might have fared better with Jurgen Klopp at the helm during this time, a manager renowned for his strong interpersonal relationships and father-like persona to his players.
Steven Gerrard fits that mould.
Few know better than the Scouser what it means to play for Liverpool, as part of the family unit that is so often invoked in fans’ endless renditions of 'You’ll Never Walk Alone'.
For this reason, and perhaps this reason alone, Gerrard could excel as an interim manager by bringing his own lived experience as a player directly into the dressing room, helping this cohort to find hope, purpose and, ultimately, band together as a family during times of such crushing tragedy.
There is, however, no guarantee Gerrard would take the Liverpool job in an interim capacity if it were to become available. Should he return to Anfield, the ex-Al Ettifaq boss would forego a significant portion of his tax-free Saudi Arabian earnings due to his status as a UK tax resident, that is before the beginning of the new financial year in April 2026.
The Gamble
Liverpool fans must recognise that Oliver Glasner has largely had their number since Arne Slot joined the club, boasting three victories, one draw and one loss against Liverpool since the start of the 2024/25 season.
Domestically, Crystal Palace rank in the top three for Big Chances Received this season with 36, merely three behind league leaders Chelsea. On the other end, Glasner’s side have also conceded the second fewest goals in the Premier League, just three more than defensive juggernaut Arsenal.
The core issue preventing Crystal Palace from being higher up the table is their lacklustre finishing, with the third most Big Chances Missed of any team in the Premier League. And while Liverpool’s forwards have been anything but firing this season, with Slot’s team being second on that list, you’d have a rough time arguing that the Reds’ frontline has a lower ceiling than the options currently at Glasner’s disposal.
Fenway Sports Group must reconcile with conflicting truths here, the first being that Glasner has made their team suffer more deeply than any other manager since Jurgen Klopp left. By applying that reasoning, who could be better at pinpointing this side’s current failures and plugging them at the source?
On the other hand, Glasner lacks the managerial experience often required to take on a task as large and as pressurised as managing Liverpool. If even the best of managers could fail, it would be under the weight of a task as great and as quick of a step-up as this one.
With the Austrian having been tipped to manage Manchester United recently, prior to Ruben Amorin’s short-lived turnaround at the club, there’s a growing feeling that Glasner is willing to take the bet on himself, but are Liverpool?
The Safe Bet
There have long been whispers that if Jurgen Klopp is to return to management in any capacity (besides an Anfield comeback, but we’ll get to that later), then it would be to manage Germany. Their current coach, Julian Nagelsmann, would surely be Liverpool’s safest bet as a new, long-term option that could build upon the side’s 2024/25 Premier League victory rather than continuing on their current trajectory.
The youngest coach to make a Champions League semi-final, and the youngest to win a Champions League game full-stop; Nagelsmann has excelled managerially at each of his three previous clubs: saving Hoffeinheim from relegation, taking RB Leipzig to the brightest of European lights then winning a domestic double with Bayern Munich.
There’s a loose argument that Nagelsmann has more years and energy left than many of his ageing peers, making the coach a pick for the long haul. There’s a stronger argument that Fenway Sports Group could hardly hire a manager more adept at getting the very best from their star signing Florian Wirtz, acting as the player’s current coach at the national level.
Liverpool’s success in the last decade has predominantly been down to a select few players, the strongest of all being Mohamed Salah. At the ripe age of 22, there’s an expectation that the £116 million German was purchased to usher Liverpool into a new age of dominance, yet Arne Slot has so far failed to extract what’s required from him.
If Liverpool wish to plan for the future, they must plan for a future without the core players that once took them back to the top. And if Wirtz is to be the superstar that Liverpool’s owners shelled out so greatly for him to be, then they’d be wise to hire a manager who understands his needs and strengths better than almost anyone else.
The Unlikely Option
There once was a time when Xabi Alonso, ex-Liverpool player and legend, seemed all but confirmed to join the club following a historic season with Bayer Leverkusen.
Instead, the coach stayed put then joined another of his former teams in Real Madrid - the thorn in Liverpool’s side during their European ventures. Yet the Spaniard’s start to life there, despite sitting at La Liga’s perch, has been bizarrely dampened by rumours that his Madrid side are unhappy with his playing style, a sentiment further echoed by the club’s fans.
With the signs of an actual problem being revealed, following back-to-back domestic draws and a 1-0 loss to Slot’s ailing Liverpool in the Champions League, it seems unlikely that Alonso will throw in the towel, but stranger things have happened.
If he does walk, Liverpool must snap him up. Not only does he match Nagelsmann in regard to getting the best out of Florian Wirtz (and also Jeremie Frimpong!) but he boasts one of the finest managerial feats this century with his historic 2023/24 season at Bayer Leverkusen.
And if Madrid were to be hasty by getting rid of a manager on track to deliver a 37th La Liga title, Liverpool would be fools to not get their own back following so many recent European heartbreaks by entrusting the Spaniard with the keys themselves.
The Wildcard
Even Jurgen Klopp’s biggest fans will begrudgingly admit that the wheels fell off for Liverpool after their almost quadruple-winning season in 2021/22. The following year saw the Reds go trophyless as they also failed to achieve Champions League football.
In his farewell campaign, despite a remarkable Carabao Cup victory against Chelsea with virtually the entire Liverpool academy on the pitch, he also oversaw a horrifying collapse in the 2023/24 title run-in and a torturous FA Cup loss to Manchester United.
Still, anything is better than 12th in the Premier League table and the worst title defence from a side in the last decade. And it’s almost certain that Klopp, much like Gerrard if he were to take the reins, would tend to the emotional wounds of a Liverpool team in such turmoil.
If Klopp were to return, there’s a high likelihood he may do so out of a perceived obligation to the players after Jota’s death, not out of a rejuvenated energy for management.
In many ways, the German would be the ultimate wildcard for Liverpool. If he took the job in the absence of managerial passion, it could have ugly effects on Klopp’s legacy if he were unable to inspire the Reds back to greatness. But the fanbase’s heart, and perhaps that of the ownership group, too, will surely tell a different story.
It might not be the smartest move on paper, but it could be a historic one.
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