Liverpool boss Arne Slot bites back at 'aura' dig from Man Utd legend Wayne Rooney

Liverpool were impressive during the 2024-25 season, finishing 10 points clear of Arsenal to win their second Premier League title. However, after a strong start to the current term, the Reds' form completely fell off, leaving them with no hope of defending their crown and instead scrambling to qualify for the Champions League amid competition from Manchester United and Chelsea, who both sit ahead of Liverpool in fourth and fifth place respectively.

One pundit who hasn't been shy of voicing his concerns is Rooney, who has commented on Slot's need to finish the season strongly to avoid being replaced at Anfield, despite his excellent debut campaign.

Speaking recently on The Overlap, he said: “It’s strange isn’t it when you’re talking about Slot being on an audition to keep his job when he has obviously recently won the Premier League.

“I have met him a couple of times, but I just don’t think, for Liverpool, he has that aura - and maybe that’s because Liverpool have just come off the back of Jurgen Klopp as manager - it’s difficult for anyone to do that but I just don’t think there is that aura about him.”

Responding to Rooney’s comments, Slot said: “We are all different. The only thing we have in common, Jurgen and me, is that we both won the league – and that’s not too bad, is it? I think the more a manager wins, the more aura he has. I don’t know if you agree with Wayne Rooney, by the way, but if this would be the general opinion then I think people would probably tell you last season I had more aura than this season.

“But maybe he’s the only one who has this opinion; I don’t know, you tell me. It’s the first time that I heard this but I think it’s fair to say that Jurgen definitely has an aura. I can talk about him, not about myself, but he definitely had that. But a winning manager has an aura as well.”

Liverpool are well placed in both the Champions League and the FA Cup. They will play one of Atletico Madrid, Club Brugge, Galatasaray and Juventus in the last 16 of Europe's elite club competition, while they visit Wolves in the fifth round of the FA Cup. However, arguably the biggest task facing them in the remainder of the season is to ensure they qualify for the Champions League again.

They face tough opposition in their bid to do that. United have stormed into the top four thanks to a brilliant run of form following Michael Carrick's interim appointment, while Chelsea have also looked strong since Liam Rosenior replaced Enzo Maresca. Brentford are also only two points behind Liverpool.

While there remains plenty for Liverpool to fight for this season, first up is a trip to Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Forest are on to their fourth permanent manager of the campaign after the previous exits of Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche, but new boss Vitor Pereira made an impressive start on Thursday when he led his side to a convincing 3-0 win away at Fenerbahce in the first leg of their Europa League knockout round play-off.

Liverpool themselves have been in strong recent form, winning four of their last five games in all competitions. The only blot on that record came in a 2-1 home defeat to Manchester City, when they were downed by late strikes from Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland before Dominik Szoboszlai was sent off in a chaotic finale.