'Body blow for the fans' - Steven Gerrard slams Arne Slot comments as fellow former Liverpool star tips Reds legend to be next Anfield boss

Gerrard is currently watching on from afar as Liverpool look to chase down more major honours in 2026. They are the reigning Premier League champions, but appear destined to surrender that crown after enduring uncharacteristic struggles in domestic competition.

The English top-flight title was secured in dominant fashion last season, and Slot has suggested that was because the Reds tumbled out of the Champions League early - with benefits to be found from suffering a last-16 defeat to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain.

The Dutchman has said: “This is not going to be a popular opinion but maybe the reason we won the league last season is that we had to play [PSG] in the last 16.

“They beat us and we had every time a [full] week to prepare for our next game. Maybe that helped us. Every manager is aware that the bigger squad you have, the better equipped you are for so many games.”

Liverpool were already well clear at the Premier League summit when coming unstuck against PSG, with fans quick to condemn Slot for seemingly writing off continental failings so easily.

Iconic former Reds skipper Gerrard sits in that camp, and he has told TNT Sports: “I can understand the fans being frustrated on the back of that interview. The simple reason is, they were 15 points clear. In my opinion they had the league wrapped up by that point.

“To say that helped them is a body blow for the fans really, because the fans have been on the journey. They've paid good money to follow the team in the Champions League games. The frustration when you go out of the Champions League as a player or a fan, that hurts… so, to say that helped you when you were already 15 points clear, you can understand their frustrations.”

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Questions have been asked of Slot’s ongoing presence throughout the 2025-26 campaign, with collective standards on Merseyside being allowed to slip despite a record-breaking spending spree being enjoyed last summer.

An emotional return to familiar surroundings for Jurgen Klopp has been speculated on, while talk of Xabi Alonso taking the reins at some stage has intensified following the World Cup winners’ sacking at Real Madrid.

It has even been suggested that Gerrard could be welcomed back to Anfield, with the former England captain having shown when winning the Scottish Premiership title at Rangers that he can make a difference in the dugout.

Struggles were endured at Aston Villa and in the Saudi Pro League with Al-Ettifaq after leaving Glasgow, while the 45-year-old is now on punditry, but he could have a future at what remains a spiritual home.

Dietmar Hamann believes Gerrard could succeed Slot, with the ex-Reds midfielder telling CasinoBeats: “I don't think Steven Gerrard coming in is out of the question. Sometimes you have to think out of the box and he's not got a job at the moment.

“The manager is under pressure. It can change on a daily or a weekly basis at Liverpool at the moment. If you had told me there is a chance that Slot won't be there at the end of the season, at the start of the season I would have said not in a million years. Now it's come to a point where you go, well actually maybe it has to happen, which I didn't think was possible. This just goes to show how quickly things can change in football.

“I think Gerrard to Liverpool has got its charms, I have to say. It depends on what happens in the next few weeks.”

Liverpool have slipped to sixth in the Premier League table, following a dramatic 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth, and have a couple of testing fixtures approaching against Newcastle and Manchester City - although both of those games are set to take place at Anfield.