Liverpool’s no.1 manager target revealed

We’re now in the 12th round of Arne Slot‘s fight with Mohamed Salah. The Dutchman is losing on points and up against the ropes, having already been knocked down once. Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes are considering throwing in the towel.

Some may say that it’s a battle Slot should never have started. Others have protested that the manager simply had to tussle for authority against a Liverpool legend.

When the final bell sounds, however, it’s likely neither Salah or the Liverpool boss are seen around Anfield.

Salah takes aim at Liverpool’s standards

It’s easy to brush off criticism when it comes from behind a keyboard. After all, it’s likely that criticism has arrived without the full picture.

Alas, when that criticism comes from the man who is at the training ground before anyone else, in the gym every day, and in possession of several club records, you’ve got a problem.

Salah has gone out swinging one final time at Slot’s expense, taking aim at Liverpool’s standards and publicly airing his concerns for the club’s future if things do not change.

In an explosive statement, the Egyptian claimed: “I want to see Liverpool go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and back to being a team that wins trophies.

“That is the football I know how to play and that is the identity that needs to be recovered and kept for good. It cannot be negotiable and everyone that joins this club should adapt to it.”

He also referenced Jurgen Klopp’s infamous line about going from “doubters to believers”.

The message was a clear reference to the old times and a dig at the new, with Slot’s side often guilty of stepping off sides rather than operating with vintage Liverpool intensity this season.

And if it’s the message that ends the manager’s tenure, then FSG should turn towards Andoni Iraola. Reports in the last 24 hours from the continent suggest that ‘Iraola is now at the very top of the list’ to replace Slot if he leaves.

Whilst Liverpool have been falling apart, with a civil war threatening to commence, Iraola and Bournemouth have enjoyed a stunning 18-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

It’s included victory over Liverpool, a draw against Manchester City to hand Arsenal the title, and a win against the champions themselves.

The run has been sensational and has ended in European qualification, with the former Rayo Vallecano boss now believed to be a contender to succeed Slot at Anfield.

Slot will be the first to tell the Merseysiders that heavy metal football is impossible in the current, pragmatic state of the Premier League. Tell that to Iraola, though.

The Spaniard’s Bournemouth side press with the intensity so familiar to Liverpool fans out of possession, and attack with the same speed that saw the Reds reach the very top of English football under Jurgen Klopp.

Iraola’s Cherries are proving that heavy metal is far from dead in the Premier League.

The numbers do not make for pretty reading as far as Slot is concerned. Whilst Liverpool’s high possession should be taken into account, they have simply not been aggressive enough this season.

Compared to Bournemouth, they have enjoyed fewer turnovers, fewer interceptions, won possession fewer times in the most important area and won an alarmingly fewer amount of tackles. Liverpool have simply been far too easy to beat.

Salah called for added intensity and Iraola is perhaps the closest to Klopp that the Reds can get. In the German’s final season at Anfield, his side won 17.8 tackles per game, 7.7 interceptions per game and won possession in the final third 6.1 times per game.

All of the important out-of-possession numbers were in that healthy Bournemouth territory or higher.

It’s easy to assume that frantic, attacking football will go unrewarded in the Premier League these days, but Iraola – dubbed the “best young coach in the world” by Sky Sports’ Sam Tighe – continues to prove that wrong every passing week.