Arne Slot handed deadline to save his job as Liverpool sack warning issued

Arne Slot must win his next two games, or risk his Liverpool reign being brought to an early end.

That’s the view of former Reds star Didi Hamann, who has warned the Dutchman‘s job will be hanging by a thread if he fails to turn things around quickly at Anfield.

Getty

After guiding Liverpool to the Premier League title in his debut season, Slot has had a much more difficult time of things this term.

A 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday saw his side suffer a sixth loss in seven league games.

The result leaves the Reds 12th in the table, and 11 points adrift of leaders Arsenal.

Their loss of form comes despite spending over £400million on new signings in the summer, including British record £125m man Alexander Isak, who is yet to score in the league.

This has seen Slot face mounting pressure in recent weeks, making his upcoming fixtures all the more important.

Liverpool face PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday night, live on talkSPORT 2, where they will look to claim a fourth win out of five in the competition.

After this, Slot’s team travel to relegation strugglers West Ham in their next Premier League outing on November 30.

Crunch time

Former midfielder Hamann, who tasted European glory with the club in 2005, has labelled the two games must-win for the Reds boss in securing his future on Merseyside.

Discussing Slot on talkSPORT Breakfast, he said: “I don’t think anybody wants to see him leave because of what he’s done last season. 

“Obviously, the run of form is very bad at the moment. I think what you want to see as a club is progress. The next two games will be telling.

Getty

Getty

“Alan [Brazil] just said they’ve got to win both games, I agree because we don’t need to talk about the title now.

“Arsenal look very strong, Chelsea look the only contender really at the moment. I think they’ve (Liverpool) got a fight on their hands to finish in the top four.

“If you don’t see progress in the Premier League, I think his time will come to an end, as it will be with everybody else.”

Hamann’s verdict

Liverpool’s loss of form comes despite a near-perfect start to the season, which saw them win all of their first seven fixtures.

While the results were there, performances were lacking, with their first four league wins coming via winners in the final ten minutes.

And Hamann admitted he was surprised to see the Reds go backwards instead of forwards in terms of progress.

Getty

Outlining his former side’s shortcomings, the German continued: “Ray (Parlour) just said they fell off a cliff.

“I’m not sure they’ve been on a cliff this season, because even the games they won early in the season – Bournemouth, Newcastle, Burnley, Arsenal – they were all late goals. They were very fortunate in these games.

“When you don’t play well in games, usually it brings a group together because you trust each other, but the performances didn’t pick up.

“They’ve got beat a few times now. I think in the Champions League, they’ve been pretty okay so far, because it’s less physical.

“I think that’s the biggest problem. They’ve been sloppy. They’ve not been physical enough, they don’t show enough urgency.

“That’s why they’ve been struggling in the Premier League so far.”

‘They don’t look like a team’

Despite his warning over Slot’s future, Hamann admitted he expects Liverpool to beat PSV, having enjoyed a better time of things in Europe this term.

Victories over Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt and Atletico Madrid put the Reds eighth in the league phase standings.

When asked about the match, Hamann said: “They’re good at home (PSV), they beat Napoli 6-2 at home, but I expect Liverpool to win tonight.

Despite this, he stressed there is plenty Liverpool must improve on: “Slot said in the press conference in this club, the harder it gets, the closer the club gets together – the team hasn’t shown it so far.

“I think that’s where they have to start. I don’t think it’s a given that it’s going to get better any time soon, because there’s a lot of players who are underperforming at the moment.

“They don’t look like a team. Last season, they were sensational, they looked like a unit, they’ve been together, everybody helped each other.

“Now you don’t see this. Even with Liverpool, with the good players they’ve got, if you don’t stick together, you won’t win.”