Last 5 Liverpool managers' final games as Arne Slot hits new low months after title win
Arne Slot has overseen a dramatic slump in results just months after leading Liverpool to the Premier League title but the Dutchman's job isn't in danger just yet
Wednesday night's 3-0 Carabao Cup defeat at home to Crystal Palace was a fifth reverse in six games under Arne Slot, and a fifth in a row in domestic competitions. There's no suggestion the Dutchman's job is at risk just months after he delivered a Premier League title, but he'll be determined to stop the rot as soon as possible.
Other Premier League bosses have lasted a great deal longer in similar situations, with the goodwill from a title win rightly buying them time from the higher-ups. Claudio Ranieri lasted until late February 2017 before Leicester decided the real threat of relegation made his position untenable, while even Jose Mourinho made it until December 2015 after taking Chelsea from first to 16th.
Liverpool take on Aston Villa on Saturday after league losses against Palace, Chelsea, Manchester United and Brentford, but Slot doesn't believe there's any additional pressure on the fixture. "I don't think it is possible if you lose six out of seven that there is even more pressure," he told reporters after the Carabao Cup exit.
"If you are on a run of results like this, if you play for Liverpool, if you manage Liverpool, you know the pressure is there. I don't think it has changed much after this loss, but if it did then maybe the most positive thing about tonight was the position we were in, 2-0 down and we weren't really pushing for a goal because we weren't able to, the fans were behind the team and supporting us.
"That gives me the feeling on Saturday when our players will show how much it means to them, our fans will be incredibly supportive for us on Saturday. Again, we face a team that has rested in the week to play us and that's Villa."
READ MORE: Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner hits out at 'disrespectful' Liverpool commentREAD MORE: Liverpool youngster's nightmare record after red cards in every first-team gameWhether leaving on their own terms or learning their time was up for other reasons, Liverpool's last few managers have been given time to make a fist of turning things around. Here, Mirror Football looks at how it ended for them.
Jurgen Klopp
Klopp was granted a long goodbye by Liverpool, and few would begrudge him such a thing. He announced in January 2024 that he had grown too tired to continue with the same intensity, but had one final crack at the Premier League title before departing.
Ultimately he came up short, with Liverpool still in the mix in April but picking up just 12 points from their last eight league games. The same period saw hopes of Europa League glory dashed, with eventual champions Atalanta winning 3-0 at Anfield en route to a quarter-final triumph.
Klopp did at least manage to bow out with a win. Liverpool hosted Wolves in his final game in charge, with goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Jarell Quansah delivering a comfortable 2-0 victory.
Brendan Rodgers
Rodgers' impressive 2013/14 season, when Liverpool came desperately close to a sensational title win, bought the Ulsterman plenty of time. A drop-off in the following season was understandable given the loss of Luis Suarez and he was backed at the start of the 2015/16 campaign as the Reds looked to shake off the loss of another big player in the form of Raheem Sterling.
The start to the season couldn't have been much further from the goal-heavy title charge, with Liverpool scoring two and conceding none as they earned seven points from their first three outings. They won just one of their next five in the league, though, while also drawing their first two Europa League group games and only scraping past Carlisle in the League Cup.
Rodgers' final game came away at Everton, with Danny Ings' opener for the Reds cancelled out by Romelu Lukaku. It was his sixth draw in 11 games that season.
Kenny Dalglish
Dalglish's second Liverpool spell wasn't the longest. After a recovery operation in the second half of the 2010/11 season, a failure to take the Reds back into the Champions League proved his undoing.
In the end, it wasn't even that close. Liverpool were in the top four for just one of the 38 weeks of the 2011/12 campaign and a League Cup final victory over Cardiff - coupled with defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup final - wasn't enough after an eighth-place finish.
Dalglish spoke of the "honourable, respectful and dignified way" the owners handled his exit. He was given until the end of the season, bowing out with a 1-0 defeat against Swansea which would also be Rodgers' final game at the Liberty Stadium before taking over at Anfield
Roy Hodgson
Hodgson took over at Anfield after leading Fulham to the Europa League final but was gone by January. Replacing a long-serving manager is never easy, and the Englishman was unable to recover from a slow start after succeeding Rafa Benitez.
Liverpool were briefly in the bottom three after a nightmare start, with Hodgson winning just one of his first eight league games. There was also a shock League Cup exit against lower-league Northampton Town, who won on penalties after a 2-2 draw at Anfield.
Things went a little better in Europe, where Hodgson's team topped their Europa League group, but domestic results proved his undoing. He was sacked after Liverpool lost 3-1 at Blackburn - a third defeat in four matches, which left the team firmly in the bottom half of the table.
Rafa Benitez
A Champions League winner in 2005 and FA Cup winner 12 months later, Benitez can consider his Anfield tenure a success. A league title narrowly eluded him, with the Reds desperately close to knocking Manchester United off their perch in 2008/09.
The following season would prove to be the Spaniard's last at the helm. Liverpool weren't helped by the sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid, while new signing Alberto Aquilani struggled in an injury-hit Anfield spell.
Benitez's team suffered an early European exit and finished seven points outside the top four to miss out on a Champions League return, with Benitez leaving in the summer of 2010. The Reds drew a blank in each of his last two games, the last of which was a goalless draw away to relegated Hull City.
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