Arne Slot made 'insulting' remark to new Liverpool signings before sacking
Former Liverpool head coach Arne Slot reportedly damaged his relationship with several players after making insulting remarks about them during his time at Anfield.
Slot, despite winning the Premier League in 2025, was sacked on May 30 after leading Liverpool to a disappointing fifth-place finish and a trophyless season last term.
He has since been replaced by former Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola, with the club officially announcing the Spaniard’s arrival on their social media platforms on Thursday (June 4).
Following his dismissal, the Dutchman has been linked with several high-profile roles, including vacancies at Serie A side AC Milan and Premier League outfit Fulham.
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Dutch journalist Marcel van der Kraan has also suggested Slot would be open to succeeding Ronald Koeman as Netherlands boss after the upcoming World Cup.
Meanwhile, there have been suggestions that Slot’s relationship with several players broke down during the latter months of his reign on Merseyside, with German newspaper BILD reporting that the 47-year-old annoyed some of his squad because “objective criticism became mixed with arrogance and personal barbs”.
Slot 'insulted' Liverpool dressing room
Following the arrivals of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Hugo Ekitike from Bundesliga clubs Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt last summer, Slot supposedly needlessly asked them, “Did you win the Premier League?” when analysing their style of play, while also allegedly commenting: “You can play like that in Germany.”
Alexander Isak, Ibrahima Konaté, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo were also part of a group of Liverpool players with experience in Germany’s top flight.
When results turned in the autumn of 2025, with the Reds losing nine of 12 matches, the general feeling in the dressing room was that Slot’s success in the 2024/25 campaign was largely down to predecessor Jürgen Klopp, as senior players Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk began to lose faith in the Dutchman and felt he was running out of new ideas.
Salah later went on to speak publicly about how he wanted to see a change in approach and a return to the “heavy metal” football of the Klopp era.
In a statement posted to Instagram in May, the Egyptian wrote: “I have witnessed this club go from doubters to believers, and from believers to champions.
“It took hard work and I always did everything I could to help the club get there. Nothing makes me prouder than that.”
He added: “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 who joins this club should adapt to it. Winning some games here and there is not what Liverpool should be about. All teams win games.”
Luke Davies