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Is Slot Liverpool's manager next season
Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist
Liverpool boss Arne Slot has been speaking to the media before Friday's Premier League game against Aston Villa at Villa Park (kick-off 20:00 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Ibrahima Konate is available, while Mohamed Salah has trained with the squad and "will be available for a few minutes" against Villa.
Florian Wirtz has had a stomach infection and is on antibiotics so Slot does not yet know whether he will recover in time.
Goalkeeper Alisson will be assessed on Friday to see "whether he is ready, or has to wait one more week" to return.
On Alisson's future and fans wanting clarity on whether to give him a "big send-off": "Our fans need to support Alisson, no matter if it is his last game or if it was his first game - that is what they have always done. If he is in goal tomorrow or next week, our fans will support him. The same goes for next season."
Slot said Liverpool have "dropped far too many points in away games" this campaign and that's "one of the reasons" why they have not yet qualified for the Champions League.
On why he thinks their away form has been poor: "It has mainly happened while playing in Europe and in games Liverpool are usually able to win. The first challenge is to be fitter and more ready to play after Europe and I think we have progressed in that."
He added they have "many times" been "in a good place after 70, 80 minutes, but dropped points in the last phase of the game," so that needs to improve next season.
In response to whether he will be head coach of the Reds next term: "I don't think I am deciding that alone, but I have every reason to believe I'm the Liverpool manager next season."
On long-term plans: "We know where we go on tour. Plans have been made and talks have been ongoing between the club and new players, and I am involved in that."
He said he has "the most respect" for his players because they have had a "difficult season, physically and mentally" but have "have been constantly available."
Hit play above to hear more from Slot or listen here on BBC Sounds
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Jack Herrall
BBC Sport Scotland
Image source, Getty ImagesGary McAllister played for Liverpool 87 times, but you'd be forgiven for thinking it was at least triple that.
The affection that is held for him by supporters of the club runs deep, with the dynamic Scottish midfielder regarded as one of the most shrewd signings in the club's history, helping them win a Treble in 2001.
McAllister is featured in BBC Scotland's Icons of Football series, taking an in-depth look at his storied career for club and country.
When McAllister arrived at Anfield, aged 35, there were some eyebrows raised in and around the club, particularly by a young Steven Gerrard.
"It wasn't really in the news, it wasn't a big story, and he wasn't considered a big target at the time," the Reds legend tells BBC Scotland.
"It was when Gary walked in the door [that I found out].
"And obviously, someone in my position as well, I was a bit like, 'Oh, hang on a minute, what's going on here?'
"I didn't know how to take it.
"When he arrived, I thought he was a threat for my position, because I knew he was a top player, but from day one, from the first conversation we connected, he had time for me. Went out of his way to help me."
Over the next couple of years, McAllister would act as an extension of Gerard Houllier's coaching staff on the pitch, as Gerrard puts it, and guided a squad of raw players such as Jamie Carragher, Michael Owen, and Danny Murphy to multiple trophies.
"We were a gang of toe-rags, shall we say," Gerrard adds.
"He brought calmness to the dressing room, big-game knowledge, a lot of wisdom.
"Gary was vital for me, he certainly helped me both on and off the pitch become a better professional, a better person.
"It was like having a coach sitting next to you in the dressing room all the time.
"He was the fittest, probably the oldest, but still the fittest. He could run for days and days.
"All the way through pre-season he was at the front of the group."
McAllister's fitness, something he was schooled in at Leeds by the likes of Gordon Strachan, led to his career at the top level lasting well past his contemporaries, an honest admission that Gerrard makes.
"He was still in his prime well into his thirties, which is the biggest compliment I can pay him because when I was that age, I was very much done," he says.
"I was ready for a different level of football, I went to the MLS.
"Gary McAllister was still producing consistently in the Premier League, so his longevity certainly outlasted mine from that point of view."
Ivory Coast winger Yan Diomande, who will reportedly cost £80m, has been linked to Chelsea and Liverpool but the 19-year-old is in no rush to leave RB Leipzig. (The Athletic - subscription required), external
Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column
Image source, Getty ImagesLiverpool's owners Fenway Sports Group face a familiar dilemma. As the reigning Premier League champions continue to suffer an alarming decline, and fan discontent rises, FSG must decide what to do about head coach Arne Slot.
Slot has lost the faith of many supporters, with former Liverpool and England midfielder Danny Murphy telling BBC Sport it is a conundrum he feels will end with the Dutchman's departure within months.
There are currently no indications that FSG are planning to part with Slot, but the voices of Liverpool supporters are rising in volume against him. Saturday's 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea was played out in an atmosphere of toxicity rarely heard at Anfield.
Now former Reds midfielder Xabi Alonso is the name on the lips of The Kop.
Murphy believes Slot's departure is now purely a case of when rather than if, given the increasing revolt in the stands.
He told BBC Sport: "Slot has won a title, which Brendan didn't do, so on the surface it would make more sense to stick with him, and I do feel strongly it is unfair to say he only won the title with Klopp's team. That's just not right.
"The problem Slot has got, especially at one of the biggest clubs in the world, is that when the fanbase turns, you are really, really struggling to get them back unless you win every game, then not just win, but win in a style Liverpool fans expect and demand.
"This season you have seen Liverpool being dictated to by the way other teams play at Anfield. Fair enough, it's different away from Anfield, but at home you expect Liverpool to be going after you, not giving you time to breathe. Too often it's not been like that."
Murphy also feels FSG run the risk of falling behind should they follow the Brendan Rodgers template from 2015 and keep Slot in place.
He said: "What you're doing then is taking the huge risk of banking on starting next season amazingly well, with everything going brilliantly.
"I think that's unlikely, especially with the changes that are going to happen, so you're then behind 'the eight ball' because you might have to take a decision when everyone else is kicking on.
"I think we are looking at an inevitable departure whether it is now or a few months into the season."
Image source, Getty ImagesLiverpool fan Joel Richards speaking on BBC Radio Merseyside about whether Xabi Alonso's links with Chelsea would prove a missed opportunity for the Reds, should he take the role: "I don't think I'm in full meltdown mode like a lot of Liverpool fans are. But that said, if it happens, if Alonso goes to Chelsea, it's going to feel like a missed opportunity, isn't it?
"If FSG decide to stick with [Arne] Slot, and then if, as we're all fearing, Slot starts next season, but he starts terribly - a la Brendan Rodgers back in 2015 - the only difference this time would be that there's no Jurgen Klopp waiting in the wings to take over, or a manager of his ilk or his calibre to replace Slot.
"So that is the big fear that if Liverpool don't make the change this summer, then is it going to be a very massive mistake on FSG's behalf."
BBC Radio Merseyside's Paul Salt wonders if Alonso knows Liverpool are sticking with Slot and is therefore more tempted by Chelsea than some fans expected.
Salt explained: "There have been no murmurings about him going. That's the thing for me. My instinct is that they are standing by him. That is my instinct.
"I think at the moment he will be there at the start of next season. Now, things can change. Things can change between now and the end of the season. If somehow Liverpool manage to mess up getting in the Champions League, I think he's a goner.
"They are not going to brief journalists going, 'Yeah, he's gone at the end of the season'. They're not going to brief journalists and say that, but you'd get an undertone of it, and there doesn't appear to be any kind of even movement in that direction."
Hit play below to listen to the full 14-minute chat or get more on BBC Sounds here
Image source, BBC SportGary McAllister made the game of football look easy. The proverbial classy midfield player who saw the full picture, and could affect it, in the crucial seconds before his opponent.
Unprepared to succumb to a story that began with knock-backs, McAllister wrote his own place in the history and folklore of every club he played for - a winner at Motherwell, champion at Leeds, immortal at Liverpool, and a Scotland captain of some repute.
There were lows to counter the highs, and McAllister discusses these with searing honesty on the latest episode if Icons of Football.
With contributions from Steven Gerrard, Gordon Strachan and Ardal O'Hanlon, this is the story of one of the greatest Scotland players of his, or any, generation.
Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent
Image source, Getty ImagesBenjamin Sesko's goal for Manchester United against Liverpool was allowed to stand because there was no definitive proof of handball, according to referees' chief Howard Webb.
Sesko scored United's second goal in a 3-2 victory at Old Trafford on 3 May.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot voiced his frustration that the video assistant referee did not intervene to disallow the 14th minute goal.
The Slovenia international had bundled the ball home from close range, and it looked like his fingertips may have brushed it before it went in.
"I think it probably does hit the hand," Webb said on Match Officials Mic'd Up.
"But of course, the VARs need [to see] that conclusively. They need to be absolutely certain that it does.
"Clearly, Sesko doesn't deliberately handle this. He doesn't make himself bigger. It's all very natural.
"But, of course, the laws of the game require any goal that comes off the hand immediately to be disallowed.
"That means the VAR has no option but to start looking for that.
"Sometimes it looks like they're being a bit too forensic, and you hear, in this situation, the VAR looking from various angles.
"They want to get it right.
"They need to be absolutely categorical to get involved, and they weren't able to find [the evidence], and hence the reason that the on-field decision stood."
Image source, Getty ImagesBBC Sport has been reflecting on the forthcoming Netflix documentary which details Liverpool's unlikely comeback in the 2005 Champions League final.
The key figures from the time feature, with ex-defender Jamie Carragher detailing the role of manager Rafa Benitez.
As he reflects on Benitez's time in charge, Carragher says the manager's training methods were "a bit weird".
"There's no ball and there'd just be cones all around the pitch," says the former England defender, 48.
"Rafa would say, 'right the ball's at cone A, the ball's at cone D, the ball's at cone F' and then we'd all have to run to where we should be."
Benitez acknowledges he likes to go into detail in his coaching.
"I like to analyse things," he says. "Just one centimetre higher or lower - that is the difference between success sometimes and defeat."
And that attention to detail paid off during the penalty shootout in Istanbul.
Jerzy Dudek says Benitez had kept extensive notes on where Milan's players liked to put their spot-kicks.
"We had a code," says the former Poland goalkeeper. "The goal was divided into six squares. He shared this information: 'Andriy Shevchenko likes one and four.'"
Dudek saved two penalties, including the decisive one from Shevchenko.
Image source, Getty ImagesLiverpool teenager Rio Ngumoha received the Home Grown Debutant of the Season accolade on Tuesday.
The 17-year-old won the award on a joint-basis alongside Arsenal midfielder Max Dowman at the Premier League Youth Development Conference.
Ngumoha was also one of 27 players to pick up a Scholar of the Year prize.
Meanwhile, Liverpool's assistant Academy director Nick Marshall received the Eamonn Dolan Award; which recognises individuals who are role models and innovative in their work within an academy environment.
Image source, Getty ImagesFootball Journalist David Lynch says Liverpool have been "consistent" in their messaging that they are backing Arne Slot to stay in charge next season.
Asked if he is hearing the club are still backing Slot to stay, he said: "Absolutely and I think they have been consistent in that really.
"No matter how bad it has got at times this season they have wanted to back him and stick by him. The feeling around Liverpool and the hierarchy is that he was handed a tough hand this season.
"This could be a public stance and the cogs could be moving in the background but with Liverpool you would be expecting to hear some noise or see some indication that they are genuinely moving for an alternative at the end of the season and I just don't think we've seen that.
"We are not hearing anything around potential alternatives to Arne Slot come the end of the season."
Listen to the full chat below or on BBC Sounds
Former Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann has outlined his idea to improve how corners are officiated in future.
In the aftermath of weekend controversy over players grappling in the penalty area, he has told BBC Sport a rule whereby attacking players cannot enter the six-yard box until a corner has been taken would be his preference.
Ex-Premier League defender Nedum Onuoha backed the idea and thinks it will add "creativity" to corner kicks and the move would force "people to think in a different way".
You can watch a clip of the debate above, with Onuoha stating:"Twenty players standing in the six-yard box, you have to ask yourself, is that what you want to see? And is that the best version of the game?"
Jordan Chamberlain
Fan writer
Image source, Getty ImagesI would support Arne Slot more if he weren't so sarcastic in his interviews. He refuses to take any blame for the season.
Whereas Jurgen Klopp always shouldered responsibility for defeats or poor performances, Slot blames everyone else but himself. He blames referees, pretends to the fans that the team has dominated games, or levels thinly veiled criticisms at his players. I'm growing tired of it. For a man who won the Premier League last season, there is a startling emotional disconnect with the fans.
Liverpool fans are incredibly emotional. We expect to see it from our manager and players, too. But nobody seems to care. They are absolutely just going through the motions until the summer. Slot has promised another big summer and that next season will be different. I'm not sure I believe him. And when we're going to lose Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson - and potentially Alisson too - how can we improve?
Like most Liverpool fans, I've just had enough of this season. It's been so, so boring. Liverpool have been uninspiring. It's a huge comedown from the title win and we all just need a break from it.
I really hope someone speaks to Slot about the self-pity and the moaning in his news conferences before next term.
Find more from Jordan Chamberlain at Empire of the Kop, external
Nick Mashiter
Football reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesHarvey Elliott is attracting Premier League and European interest but is still expected back at Liverpool for the start of pre-season.
The 23-year-old has endured a nightmare season on loan at Aston Villa from Anfield, making just nine appearances in all competitions.
Yet Elliott - who won Player of the Tournament as England Under-21s won Euro 2025 last summer - is still wanted by a number of clubs in England and abroad.
He is unlikely to have a future at Liverpool if Arne Slot is in charge next season but the playmaker is due to report for pre-season training at Axa Training Centre in the summer.
Elliott joined Villa on loan on deadline day last year with Villa holding an obligation to buy in a deal worth £35m if he made 10 Premier League appearances.
Elliott has made just four - starting once - with boss Unai Emery saying he decided in November not to make the move permanent.
Villa and Liverpool held talks about ending the loan in January but were unable to reach an agreement. The teams play each other in the Premier League at Villa Park on Friday, with Elliott ineligible to face his parent club.
Elliott, popular within the Villa squad and at the club's Bodymoor training ground, has earned praise for the mature way he has handled the situation this season but sources have underlined it has been a wasted year which has set his career back.
He joined hoping to force his way into Thomas Tuchel's World Cup plans but has seen Under-21 team-mate Elliot Anderson earn six games to become a regular under Tuchel.
He was an unused substitute in Thursday's 4-0 Europa League semi-final win over Nottingham Forest which booked Villa a final berth against Freiburg.
Emery made seven changes to face Tottenham in the Premier League ahead of the semi-final second leg earlier this month with Elliott left out entirely.
Image source, Getty ImagesLiverpool legends Gary Gillespie and Sammy Lee have been reminiscing on the famous Double-winning 1985-86 season before an anniversary event marking 40 years since the triumph.
It was the first season Kenny Dalglish had led the team as player-manager following the Heysel disaster and Joe Fagan's retirement. However, despite the uncertainty, the Reds went on to achieve only the fifth Double in English football history.
"It was the lift the club needed after Heysel because everyone was on a down,' Lee told Paul Salt of BBC Radio Merseyside's Total Sport. "Joe decided enough was enough.
"We weren't too sure what was going to happen and were all still in a state of shock. To have someone like Kenny come in and lead us and do what he did after that was nothing short of exceptional.
"Because of what happened previously we wanted to make it work.
"We realised the club and English football was in such a sorry state so we needed to make it happen. That dressing room, alongside all the people Kenny had working with him, was going to make sure it was a success.
"Although we had a difficult start, it wasn't going to hinder our progress and it certainly didn't."
Gillespie added: "Kenny distanced himself a little bit from the players but still had a laugh and a joke.
"The dressing room was excellent with senior players and great characters throughout to look after everything going on."
Three Premier League clubs - Liverpool, Newcastle, and Everton - are targeting 29-year-old England forward Jarrod Bowen, even if West Ham avoid relegation. (Mail), external
The Reds are also interested in Monaco's 24-year-old right winger Maghnes Akliouche, with the France international valued at about 50m euros (£43m). His team-mate Lamine Camara is also on Liverpool's radar, but they may face competition from Newcastle for the 22-year-old Senegal midfielder. (L'Equipe, in French – subscription required), external
Sporting and Portugal midfielder Francisco Trincao, 26, is attracting attention from Liverpool and Chelsea. (Caught Offside), external
Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column
Lola Katz Roberts
Fan contributor
Image source, Getty ImagesSaturday afternoon like so many this season, ended with the team in red being outworked, outfought and outthought by the opposition. Chelsea, on a six-game losing streak, outrun in almost all of their Premier League games, turned up to Anfield and found it easy.
Anfield isn't supposed to be easy. It's supposed to be the hardest place. Home of the champions and all that. There aren't supposed to be gaps metres wide in the midfield for Chelsea's moody bunch of hundred million pound midfielders to stroll through. To allow this means they can gain confidence and remember why they cost one hundred million in the first place.
Anfield is supposed to be a place where price tags don't matter. Where opponents are humbled by the sheer collective will of 61,287 people — unified in a shared ambition. But that isn't what Chelsea encountered on Saturday afternoon. It isn't what Tottenham, on a five-game losing run of their own, found when they showed up to L4 in similarly downtrodden condition.
At a certain point it ceases to be coincidence or luck that Liverpool have so often accommodated a weak opponent desperately needing encouragement. Chelsea's players visibly grew through the contest.
And it doesn't wash because Liverpool don't have to win the title every season for fans to go home satisfied. They don't have to win any trophies or even compete for them. But they do have to show an identity, and a desire to be part of all that Liverpool Football Club represents.
And this season, time and again, this group has been found lacking.
The excuses don't wash anymore because it's May and I don't know what a Liverpool goal looks like. They don't wash because Liverpool have conceded a Premier League record 18 goals from set-pieces this season. They don't wash because the team still looks short of fitness and it doesn't wash because these players are, or at least were in September, the envy of Europe.
No belief in the stands, no belief on the pitch. The football team a joyless chasm of emptiness compared to teams before them. Time to end it. Time to bring the joy back to Anfield.
Find more from Lola Katz Roberts the Goal Difference podcast, external
Image source, Getty ImagesLiverpool have lost the "perfect balance" that they had last season, says their former goalkeeper Sander Westerveld, as the "story of the season" continued in Saturday's draw against Chelsea.
Arne Slot's side took the lead early in the first half against the out-of-form Blues, but their "passive" approach cost them three points as they failed to confirm Champions League qualification.
"It's the story of this season," Westerveld told BBC Radio Merseyside after the match.
"All the injuries, not fit players and Curtis Jones playing right-back again so it's never really a fit team. They start well and score a great goal but we can't get it over the line. They can't dominate the game or ball possession and Chelsea played very well. They found space too easy and we gave them too much space at the back."
Westerveld added: "Last season, I think what Slot did was get that 100% forward play, that aggressive pressing from Jurgen [Klopp] – he changed it a little bit to dominate the ball and keeping the ball a little bit more and the balance was perfect.
"But this season it seems the balance has gone the other way; too passive, you play the ball around the back for too long to each other, nobody is moving and at the end, even the crowd starts booing.
"It's lacking energy and that's bad."
