Is it a good summer to change manager? If you are one of the biggest clubs in the game, the answer is surely no. A dearth of proven, elite level managers has clubs who need to bring in a boss needing to gamble – and none more so than Liverpool.
Liverpool picking Arne Slot is something few saw coming and even the Feyenoord manager’s biggest fans would admit it is a bold move on the part of a club that demand title challenges and deep Champions League runs. Slot is a gamble. And he is not a gamble Liverpool need to take. There is another way.
Slot has ticked a lot of Liverpool’s boxes, the club’s data geeks purring with delight at his team’s key statistics. It is worth bearing in mind though that Slot’s impact has come in the Eredivisie, a league ranked sixth in UEFA’s coefficients and a league that has not produced a winner of a European trophy since 2002.
Yes, Feyenoord under Slot reached the final of the 2022 Europa Conference League, where he was outwitted by a declining Jose Mourinho at Roma, but Rangers reached the final of the Europa League, a better competition, in the same year, and Giovanni van Bronckhorst was sacked just months later amid poor performances in the Scottish Premiership; Van Bronckhorst also won the Eredivisie with Feyenoord. The message is clear: Slot has not been tested or succeeded in a top level European league.
Comparisons are increasingly being made with Erik ten Hag. Ten Hag had a deeper footballing education than Slot when he arrived in England, having spent time at Bayern Munich, in charge of their second side. He also won three Eredivisie titles and made a real impact in the Champions League, reaching the semi-final with Ajax; Slot’s side finished third in a group containing Celtic, Lazio and Atletico Madrid this season, losing four of their six group stage games.
That is not to say Slot is like Ten Hag. At Feyenoord he operated with fewer resources than available at Ajax to Ten Hag and Liverpool want a manager who can compete on a budget. No, the question is whether, given the lack of elite level managers available, there is a different approach Liverpool can take, a longer term approach.
Liverpool wanted Xabi Alonso, of that there is no doubt. Alonso has wowed at Bayer Leverkusen and in his first full season in charge dismantled the Bundesliga, taking full advantage of Bayern Munich’s missteps. Even had Bayern Munich not repetitively shot themselves in the foot it is unlikely they would have been able to match Alonso’s side. Alonso may not be fully proven yet, but enough who know agree that he has the makings of an elite managerial talent. The Spaniard though is not willing to leave Bayer Leverkusen yet and Liverpool need a manager now.
But is Alonso worth waiting for? Reds legend Didi Hamann told us that he is, if Liverpool can get an agreement with him for the summer of 2025. “Yes, it’s an option, but then again you need an agreement for next season. I’m not sure whether he commits now to come in the summer of 2025”, Hamann said. “Yes, if he says I want to stay another season but I come in 2025, you will obviously bring somebody in for a season and I’m sure it’ll work out, even though it’s a situation we have never really had to bring somebody in, pretty much a caretaker for a whole season.”
A caretaker for next season, an interim choice, to wait for Alonso. It should not be impossible and it should not be something Liverpool shy away from if they are convinced about Alonso; and the signs suggest they were more than convinced. Liverpool would just need a safe pair of hands to keep the club ticking over in the top four and there is one man who would slide into such a task with enthusiasm and genuine love for the Reds – Rafael Benitez.
Benitez has had a tough time since leaving Newcastle United in 2019, but nothing that has happened should cast doubt on his managerial prowess. Taking on an Everton side in turmoil, battling the ill-will of the fans and spending just £1.7m to keep a dysfunctional club away from relegation worries was mission impossible. It was one he took on nevertheless because Benitez backs himself. More recently, a return to Spain turned sour with Celta Vigo. But Celta Vigo struggling at the wrong end of La Liga is not a surprise and the club were reluctant to part ways with Benitez until they felt they had no alternative.
Hamann believes that Benitez has his powers intact, telling us: “I think he is brilliant manager, I have not seen him for a bit now, but I think he is brilliant. I don’t think he has lost any of his powers, so I hope we will see him at a big club again and hopefully we will see him in the Champions League again.”
Benitez would jump at the chance to lead Liverpool for a season, something which would give the club breathing space and not force them into jumping into a Klopp replacement that is a gamble. There may be reluctance on the part of FSG to hand Benitez the keys to the kingdom, but a clearly defined one-year job would let everyone know what to expect.
The man who masterminded Istanbul and may well have won the Premier League for Liverpool without the crisis of the Hicks and Gillett years is unlikely to find FSG calling him because to do so would be to think outside the laptop data and see the bigger picture. Benitez for a year and then maybe Alonso afterwards or, whisper it quietly, a recharged Klopp missing the Liverpool job like mad; those avenues are likely all closed off with Slot in charge at Anfield.
