Liverpool told why Arne Slot should not be fired despite $670M summer spending

Arne Slot has faced plenty of criticism this season amid Liverpool's disappointing Premier League campaign, but he should not be fired, according to a fellow Dutchman and ex-Real Madrid star Rafael van der Vaart

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot(Image: Lewis Storey/Getty Images)

One of Arne Slot's compatriots has backed the Liverpool head coach to turn things around at Anfield after a difficult 2025-26 season.

The Reds currently find themselves in sixth position in the Premier League, and face a fight to secure the top-five finish that will almost certainly be enough to secure a place in next season's Champions League.

Twelve months ago, Liverpool was cruising to the Premier League title, and Slot was being praised for building on the work that Jurgen Klopp had done at Anfield.

However, with things not going to plan this time around, questions have been raised over whether Slot has the capacity to get Liverpool back on track.

Former Real Madrid and Tottenham star Rafael van der Vaart, though, is backing his fellow Dutchman to prove his doubters wrong.

“Arne Slot is the man that can turn things around at Liverpool, I believe this 100 per cent," Van der Vaart told Sky Bet. "Spending £500m in the summer gives you no guarantee that the team is going to be better, and we’ve seen this.

“You have to remember that when Liverpool were winning, a lot of the time it was a goal in the last minute. Football is sometimes a game of luck and now they’re in a phase where the luck is not on their side.

“I really hope that Liverpool stay calm and keep Slot because he can turn it around.”

Liverpool has improved in recent times and goes into this weekend's game against Nottingham Forest off the back of four wins in the last five games in all competitions.

Rafael van der Vaart backed Slot to keep his job(Image: 2025 BSR Agency)

Explaining the team's upturn in form during a press conference on Thursday, Slot said: "Now, compared to a few weeks ago, I don't think a lot has changed.

"I think from the last 19 games, we've lost twice and twice we've lost in [added] time and, in my opinion, twice we did not deserve to lose both of those games.

"We didn't need yesterday [Arsenal's draw at Wolves] to know how difficult it is to win a Premier League game. We've experienced this [in] this season already a lot of times and I think all the teams experienced this.

"That's what made the Premier League nicer this season and last season – that it's much more competitive than probably two, three, four, five, six years ago.

"We've improved compared to three or four months ago. I would even include the Bournemouth game [that Liverpool lost 3-2] because, apart from the goals we conceded, we had total control with dominance, we had a lot of chances – and the same could be said in the second half about [Manchester] City.

"We're in a much better place now than we were months ago and there are two very simple reasons for that. [There are more reasons] but the most simple two are how fit we are now compared with three or four months ago, and the second one is that we are much better in set-pieces at the moment."