Does Arne Slot Stand on the Brink as Xabi Alonso Looms?

Xabi Alonso may have stepped away from the Real Madrid dugout, but he is far from stepping away from the game. According to Marca, the Spanish coach plans to take a short break from coaching—unless Liverpool come calling. In that case, there would be no sabbatical, no hesitation, no drawn-out deliberation. Alonso would accept immediately. Love, after all, does not need thinking time.

For Alonso, Liverpool is not just another elite job. It is memory, identity, and unfinished emotion rolled into one. This is the club where he became a Champions League winner, where intelligence mattered as much as intensity, and where the bond between player and supporters was built on trust rather than stardom. If Real Madrid was supposed to be destiny, Liverpool still feels like home.

His abrupt dismissal in Madrid has only sharpened that contrast. At the Bernabéu, Alonso was hired as a project and removed like a placeholder. Six to seven months was all he was afforded in a dressing room heavy with hierarchy and fragile balance. The Supercopa defeat to Barcelona may have been the excuse, but it was never the reason. Madrid chose calm over conviction, comfort over confrontation. Alonso paid the price.

Does Slot Find Stand Himself Edge of the Ditch?

Arne Slot’s tenure at Liverpool has shifted rapidly from optimism to uncertainty. After winning the Premier League in his first season, the Dutch head coach now finds himself under increasing scrutiny due to a dip in form and a style of play that has left many fans restless.

On the scoreboard, the scars are obvious: 3–0 to Crystal Palace, 2–1 defeats against Manchester United and Chelsea, a chaotic 3–2 loss to Brentford, and emphatic 3–0 defeats to both Manchester City and Nottingham Forest—results that now haunt his glorious first season.

Critics argue that the Reds’ football has become cautious and uninspiring. Especially given the significant investment the club made in players like Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak. Recent reports even suggest that Liverpool’s hierarchy has begun “considering options” should performances not improve, with the availability of Xabi Alonso—fresh off his Real Madrid exit—only adding fuel to the speculation.

Despite this pressure, Fenway Sports Group (FSG) is still publicly backing Slot and has no plans for a mid-season dismissal. However, bookmakers have slashed the odds on his job being the next to go in the Premier League managerial sack race. A sign that the perception of risk is growing.

Although, as per the This Is Anfield reports, the management has no plans for a “Mid-Season Axe.”

Slot himself has laughed off direct questions linking him with replacement by Alonso. Maintaining his commitment to Liverpool while insisting that a string of draws is not uncommon. Nevertheless, with performances underwhelming and fan frustration rising, the coming weeks could be decisive in determining whether Slot’s Anfield chapter stabilises—or unravels.

But so far, for Xabi Alonso, Liverpool could be redemption without revenge. Not a reaction to Madrid’s rejection, but a return to a place where authority is earned, not loaned. A place where the manager is trusted to build, not rushed to survive.