Steven Gerrard told to remain on standby ahead of potential Liverpool return as pressure continues to mount on Arne Slot

Liverpool have been in a dire run of form that has seen serious doubts raised about Slot's future at Anfield. They beat West Ham at the weekend to end a run of three successive defeats by three goals, and sit eighth in the Premier League table, nine points behind Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table. Now, Ferdinand has suggested that a managerial change could take place, and he believes Gerrard will be drafted in to steady the ship. 

Ferdinand said on his Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel: “I was sitting there saying to him [Gerrard] over some food the other day, ‘Listen, you need to sharpen your tools, mate.

“Sharpen the tools and get them ready because you could be going back in as interim boss.’ That’s what I was thinking.

“There was so many games coming up, I was just thinking I don’t see Slot getting through all of these games in good enough condition. And I think the pressure from the terraces and the fanbase might be too much and they might make a decision.

“In that climate someone like Steven Gerrard sitting there, a legend of the club, forget his tenures at different clubs. A legend at the football club ready to come in and steady the ship for them.

“I wouldn’t have been surprised if Steven Gerrard would have gotten a call.”

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Former Liverpool captain Gerrard has hit back at the idea that the Reds are in "crisis". 

Speaking after the Reds were thumped 4-1 by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League last week, he said: “Each defeat, especially in the manner of the defeat, you get closer to the crisis.

“I don’t like using that because to me a crisis is a club that needs year to get back to the top and I don’t think Liverpool are at that point at all.

“They’ve still got magnificent players and the majority of this squad won the league. So I think ‘crisis’ is too strong.”

He added: “That’s not good enough. There’s no excuses for that at this football club.

“Everyone knows that. But crisis is a strong word and is very disrespectful to some of the players that have delivered for this football club, and for the manager that’s delivered.

“If this was six months down the line, a year down the line, and we’re further away from that success then maybe you can use a word like that.

“You can’t deny this team is struggling massively, they’re on a terrible run, confidence is at an all-time low and they just keep bleeding.

“They keep conceding goals, they’re wide open and unless the manager can find answers and stability in the team they’re going to continue.”

Liverpool face Sunderland in midweek in what could be a major banana skin for Slot. The Black Cats sit above the Reds in the league, in sixth, and have won six of their 13 games thus far. A defeat may see Gerrard switching his phone's volume from silent to loud. 

Slot, for his own part, insists he is ready to fight, saying: “Yeah, we’ve had the same conversations as we’ve had since I’m here. And, not sure if I said it last night, but we fight on, and we try to improve, that’s what we all try.

“But the conversations have been the same as they have been for the past one and a half years.”