Slot concedes he can't win back Liverpool fans this season
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- Arne Slot conceded he cannot change fans' minds this season after Liverpool were booed off following a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Anfield on May 9, telling media: 'This season, they will have their opinion, and they will not change.'
- Liverpool posted an xG of 0.51 against Chelsea — their lowest in a Premier League home game since March 2021 — and have now dropped nine points from winning positions at Anfield this season, their most at home since 2015-16 (14).
- Ryan Gravenberch gave Liverpool a sixth-minute lead before Enzo Fernandez equalised for Chelsea, who arrived on a six-game losing streak and played the second half on the back foot without creating a single notable chance of their own.
- Slot pinned his hopes on a productive summer window, saying he is '100 per cent convinced' Liverpool will be 'a different team next season,' while noting the squad has been hampered by fitness issues and that a record £446.5m was already spent last summer.
- Slot's decision to substitute 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha — who had registered an assist — also drew boos; Slot explained the teenager reported a muscle problem and said he knew the substitution would provoke a negative reaction but keeping on an unfit player 'was not a reason not to do it.'
- Gravenberch pushed back on the boos, telling TNT Sports: 'We don't really deserve this. I think fans have to be behind us like 90 minutes... hopefully the next few games they won't do the same.'
Why it matters: Slot's public acceptance that he has lost the dressing room's fan base for the remainder of the campaign puts his position firmly under review heading into the summer, with the club's hierarchy now effectively being told by their own manager that the £446.5m squad must be reshaped. Fan comments posted by the outlet show the mood has shifted from impatience to open calls for change, meaning Liverpool's transfer strategy and any decision on Slot's future will face intense scrutiny in the coming months.
