Liverpool hero warns Arne Slot and makes dig at Man Utd after Ruben Amorim fired

Manchester United recently ran out of patience with Ruben Amorim; a Liverpool great believes Arne Slot still has more time, but has warned him it will not be unlimited

A Liverpool legend has warned Arne Slot that his own time could be ticking after Manchester United dismissed Ruben Amorim(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)

Arne Slot has been under fire throughout much of this season. But the way things are going, he might well be the league's longest-serving manager by the time the campaign draws to a close.

Despite hovering perennially near the top of the "next to leave" lists, Slot recently outlasted two of the coaches from the traditional big six, with Enzo Maresca and Ruben Amorim departing Chelsea and Manchester United, respectively. Six managers have now been replaced since the start of the campaign.

With a league title to his credit in his debut season, it seems remarkable that Slot's job could be under pressure at all. And in fairness, there has been no indication that Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes have ever seriously considered pulling the trigger — but a Liverpool legend has warned that time is ticking, even while taking a swipe at Man Utd's culture of high turnover.

Further complicating the situation is the almost surreal fact that Liverpool is currently on a nine-game unbeaten run. Anfield has always demanded more than simply avoiding defeat, but it's still a mark of how high recent standards have risen that this is considered potentially firable form.

The bigger issue, of course, is performances. Though he has tried to argue as much on occasion, Slot could not really claim to have been unlucky with many of his recent dropped points, and indeed, he can be thankful to have avoided defeat for so long.

Whereas the summer spending spree might have served as an excuse for the early months, with new teammates needing time to gel, we've reached a tipping point where it now makes the struggles look even less acceptable. Liverpool has entrusted its manager with hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of talent, and things are just not clicking into gear.

There have been signs of progress lately from Florian Wirtz, and it was rotten luck that Alexander Isak suffered a serious injury in the very act of showcasing exactly what he was signed to do. But on paper, Liverpool has best-in-class personnel in numerous areas of the pitch, and it simply does not look that way in reality.

Arne Slot is yet to get the very best from Florian Wirtz(Image: Shaun Brooks - CameraSport via Getty Images)

John Aldridge fears that it won't be too long before Liverpool has a big decision to make. Writing for the ECHO, he pointed out that it isn't hard to see the motivations behind the dismissals of Amorim and Maresca.

"They’re doing it now rather than later to have a go at getting in the top four," Aldridge explained (although there's some dispute over whether Maresca resigned or was fired). "They are making the change before it is too late; we should be wary of both of them.

"The owners have kept faith with Arne despite our difficult season. But if we hadn’t won the league last year, it might have been different for him.... We’re not a club who sack (fire) managers easily. We don’t do that, we're not United. But Arne is not daft. If he doesn’t deliver, that’s the way the game is."

Arne Slot has been warned that he will soon come under pressure(Image: Adrian Dennis / AFP via Getty Images)

Man Utd might feel a little aggrieved at that jibe. Amorim has actually hung on a remarkably long time, given the consistent lack of results, and it was ultimately his public statements that made his position untenable.

If Slot suddenly declared that he was the manager rather than the head coach, taking shots at the structure above him, then he would almost certainly suffer the same fate as Amorim. But Liverpool can take some comfort in the fact that it retains a united front for the time being.

Yet as Aldridge hints at, that will only keep Slot safe for so long. Liverpool may not be a "firing club" under FSG, but that sample size is significantly skewed by having one of the greatest coaches of a generation at the helm for the best part of a decade.

When Jurgen Klopp became available, FSG showed no qualms in cutting Brendan Rodgers loose, little more than a year after he came so close to the Premier League title. A trophy and a final were not enough to keep Kenny Dalglish in position, and the owners ousted Roy Hodgson in double-quick time toward the start of their regime.

So while the Liverpool hierarchy is not prone to knee-jerk decisions, nor is it packed full of sentimentalists. Slot knows as well as anyone that results and performances both need to improve soon, or he will be following Amorim and Maresca to the job center.