Former Liverpool midfielder Bolo Zenden says Arne Slot’s status as a Premier League champion should afford him the time to turn things around at Anfield
Former Liverpool midfielder Bolo Zenden says Arne Slot’s status as a Premier League champion should afford him the time to turn things around at Anfield. After winning the first six games of the new season, the Reds have endured a difficult few months, losing nine of their last 17 all across all competitions.
That has led to several questions around the suitability of Slot for the Anfield hotseat.
However, the Dutchman has calmed that debate somewhat by steering his side to five unbeaten and a positive week saw them beat Inter 1-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday night in Milan before another clean sheet in Saturday’s 2-0 triumph over Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield.
READ MORE: Mohamed Salah branded ‘egotistical’ as Liverpool learn ‘dream’ transfer replacementREAD MORE: Steven Gerrard’s Curtis Jones challenge truer than ever at Liverpool after milestone moment
Zenden, who made 47 appearances across his two seasons at Liverpool between 2006-2008, believes Slot deserves more time to re-establish the champions given it was his coaching that guided them to a 20th title just a few months ago.
“What you do as a club is that you look at a process,” Zenden told Bet Victor. “As long as the club can see there’s certain progress within the squad, you can maybe give someone more time if the football is still good but the results are not. Arne Slot deserves respect.
“If there’s a moment in time where you’re not playing a certain way, imagine that maybe the situation within the dressing room is so poor, then you go a certain way where the club has to make a decision.
“At the same time, I think it was Steven Gerrard who said when it gets tough we stick together at Liverpool and of course Slot has done an amazing job last season with how they played and what they’ve won.
“With everything that they’ve done you would suggest that he’s capable of turning things around again.
“But the only thing that keeps you in the job are results. It’s important to get things back on track the sooner the better. The whole situation with Salah is obviously not helping on top of all the other stuff that is already going on.”
Zenden added: “Is it easy to understand? No. But at the same time, are there explanations? Of course. A lot of new players have come in. We all know that new players need time to settle.
“The automatisms within the team change. Some players have left too. Trent Alexander-Arnold, for example. He had a very good link up play with Mohamed Salah in front of him. That has changed.
“Then there are the results that have not been going their way. That’s another factor. Teams come and play Liverpool and think they have something to gain.
“Last year, that wasn’t the case. I don’t think that Liverpool have always been playing badly but the results have obviously been bad.
“Sometimes you look at a match where Liverpool are dominating two-thirds of the game, they create chances but they don’t put them away, and then all of a sudden they get two goals against them. The score says two nil for the opposition.
“Of course that’s a headline and understandably so but that doesn’t always tell the whole story.
“I’ve seen a few games where they played really well and had their chances but they didn’t put it away so then the problem is that when you get the chance and you have to take the chance. After that it’s always easier to play.
“And if you don’t, it gets worse. So there’s a lot of things that you can actually add on why things are not going the way they should be.
Liverpool return to action when they are entertained by Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening.
