Liverpool have bounced back before, and they are going to have to do it again, with Andoni Iraola replacing a beleaguered Arne Slot after a rather deflating 2025/26 campaign.
Slot must be remembered fondly at Anfield. He must look back at his two-year tenure with pride. But his success across that exciting first year did not hand him endless credit in the bank – though FSG’s unwavering support felt interminable at times last season, Liverpool suffering blow after blow after blow.
The gap between his two seasons at the helm could not be starker, but Iraola’s front-footed “rock and roll” system, as defined by the man himself, aligns with the tactical identity that the Reds persuasion have come to love over the past decade.
Arne Slot’s Premier League Record with Liverpool | ||
|---|---|---|
24/25 | # | 25/26 |
38 | Matches | 38 |
25 | Wins | 17 |
9 | Draws | 9 |
4 | Losses | 12 |
86:41 | GF/GA | 63:53 |
84 | Points | 60 |
2.21 | PPM | 1.58 |
Even under John McKenna at the start of the 20th century, Liverpool were characterised by their direct football: get the ball forward, usually down the wings, where crossers would find the target man, who would make the net bulge.
Slot’s measured approach crumbled last year, becoming something incongruous on Anfield’s pitch. The Dutch coach will be frustrated, though, by the efforts of many of his players, with Alexis Mac Allister among those to have let him down.
Why it might be time to sell Alexis Mac Allister
Mac Allister has been a stalwart for Liverpool. First for Jurgen Klopp, then for Slot. Across those two tenures, he won the Carabao Cup and the Premier League, an instrumental part of an all-important midfield rebuild.
But he has become a shadow of that former player. Mac Allister was not a passenger but a clamp on the wheels of the Liverpool machine last season, stifling a struggling Slot system that, at the very least, needed the star centre-midfielder to produce a semblance of the title-winning form of the previous campaign.
Less energetic, mobile, creative and convincing in the duel, it all went a bit wrong for Mac Allister last season, and while he has been an important part of Argentina’s thrilling World Cup campaign, it would be disingenuous to say that he’s playing his finest football.
The general consensus is that Liverpool need to ring the changes in midfield, and to facilitate that, Mac Allister’s sale may be required, especially when considering numerous reports in recent months have linked the 27-year-old with a move to Spain, something he is understood to be eager to pursue.
It’s time to cash in. Mac Allister is still marketable, and would fetch a hefty sum. After all, FSG appear to be angling toward a midfield signing that will allow him to leave in the coming weeks or months.
Liverpool in talks to sign big Mac Allister upgrade
Mac Allister has done a job on Merseyside, but maybe change would be the best way to achieve continuity at Anfield, allowing Liverpool to continue to develop and ensure that last year’s struggle was merely a blot on the copybook.
It should go without saying that Liverpool must sign the right replacement, should Mac Allister leave. And the decision-makers appear to have found just the signing.
According to transfer reporter Graeme Bailey for TEAMtalk, Liverpool are among a number of Premier League clubs who have been in contact with the representatives of Roma midfielder Manu Kone, currently starring with Les Bleus at the World Cup.
Bailey understands that Roma would be willing to part ways should their £50m valuation be met, and a host of Premier League clubs are also circling, ready to pounce.
Kone, 25, is an all-encompassing and steely in the middle of the park. He’s exactly what Liverpool need, with technical ability and style, yet a combative side and an awareness that those in front of him will, more often than not, take the limelight.
He has been a linchpin for Roma, who qualified for the Champions League in May after years away from the big time. His power and precision in the tackle played into that, and it’s undeniably the kind of skillset that Liverpool lacked under Slot’s wing, Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch so horribly out of sorts.
League Stats (25/26) | ||
|---|---|---|
Stats (* per 90) | Mac Allister | Kone |
Matches (starts) | 37 (31) | 29 (28) |
Goals + Assists | 2 + 4 | 2 + 3 |
Touches* | 50.3 | 61.4 |
Accurate passes* | 33.6 (87%) | 42.7 (90%) |
Big chances created | 4 | 4 |
Key passes* | 1.0 | 0.9 |
Possession lost* | 7.8 | 8.5 |
Succ. dribbles* | 0.3 (41%) | 1.0 (62%) |
Ball recoveries* | 3.0 | 4.4 |
Tackles + interceptions* | 2.0 | 2.3 |
Clearances* | 0.9 | 1.0 |
Duels won* | 3.1 (45%) | 5.3 (50%) |
By signing Kone, Liverpool would secure a subtle yet significant upgrade in the centre of the park. They would land a Mac Allister-esque midfielder who has shown far more progression than his counterpart over the past year, with the athleticism and physicality needed for Iraola’s system to fire on all cylinders.
Rio Ferdinand has even claimed that Kone has been “France’s best midfielder at this World Cup“, a powerful, press-resistent rock who has to work overtime to allow Didier Deschamps’ formidable frontline to work their magic.
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Analyst Raj Chohan backed the loud-mouthed Manchester United legend’s words up, praising Kone’s “phenomenal defensive performance” against Morocco, the midfielder showcasing “top press resistance”.
It’s exactly what Liverpool have lacked over the past year. Slot’s system had its faults during 2025/26, but how could the coach prepare for such a staggering drop-off from his chief lieutenant, a midfielder whose robustness was so important to the outfit’s title-winning success across his first two years?
