Michael Owen hits nail on the head with verdict on Liverpool firing Arne Slot

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has faced criticism this season but it is too early to write the Dutchman off, according to former Reds striker Michael Owen

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot(Image: 2026 Catherine Ivill - AMA)

Michael Owen said that he firmly believes that Arne Slot should remain as the Liverpool head coach, despite the team's disappointing title defense.

Slot guided Liverpool to Premier League glory during his first season in charge of the Reds, but this term has seen the Reds drop down the table.

Liverpool began the season with five successive wins, but the last league 19 games have yielded just six further victories, leaving the team in a serious battle to secure Champions League qualification.

Despite Liverpool's downturn in form, Owen believes his old club should stick with the Dutchman due to the credit he built up during his first season in charge.

“Liverpool hasn't been consistent but in patches has played very well this season," Owen told talkSPORT. "It (the form) has just been too sporadic

“I am in the ‘Slot in’ camp. It is premature to be thinking about firing him. This is a manager who won the Premier League in his first season, which was incredible.

"If you said to Liverpool fans, when Klopp left, that they would finish fourth (potentially this season) and first over the next two seasons, they would snap your hand off.

“There is always the risk of things falling apart. We saw it when Wenger and Ferguson left. Klopp was there for a long time, and for Slot to come in and continue that and have instant success was very good. It is far too early to be saying Arne Slot out.”

Michael Owen gave his verdict on Arne Slot's future(Image: 2025 Marc Atkins)

Liverpool started the new year with a five-game winless run in the Premier League, drawing four games an losing one, but the team returned to winning ways in style over the weekend as it came from a goal down to beat Newcastle 4-1 at Anfield.

"We are in an industry where it’s all about results," Slot said in a press conference after the win over Newcastle. "And I’ve asked the players [after the 3-2 defeat by Bournemouth a week earlier] that we have to improve in both boxes because in between we do so many things at such a high level.

"In the last two games, scoring 10 and only conceding one, I think I can safely say that that has been a big improvement. So yeah, pleased and happy that we have these two results (the win over Newcastle as well as the 6-0 Champions League win against Qarabag last week). But because of the many points we’ve dropped, we are also aware that this is certainly not enough."