Perhaps Arne Slot knew it was coming. As the Liverpool players completed their customary end-of-season lap of honor last Sunday, following a stressful 1-1 draw with Brentford, the Dutchman sat alone in the Anfield dugout and puffed out his cheeks.
While it took a further six days for his immediate departure to be officially confirmed by the club, perhaps Slot suspected in his moment of quiet reflection that he'd already passed the point of no return on Merseyside. Certainly, he did not look like a man buoyed by the prospect of a new dawn on the horizon, but rather one desperately relieved that it was nearly all over.
Then, on Saturday morning, it was over, with Liverpool confirming Slot was stepping down as manager with immediate effect.
It has been -- for so many reasons -- a season to forget for Liverpool, with Slot's underperformance one of the numerous factors behind the Reds' shambolic Premier League title defense. Their 60-point tally was enough to clinch UEFA Champions League qualification by virtue of a fifth-place finish, but 20 defeats in all competitions represented a spectacular fall from grace for a team that went into the campaign as overwhelming favorites to retain their crown.
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While Liverpool's hierarchy was publicly unwavering in its support for Slot for the duration of the difficult campaign, sources told ESPN that privately, his departure had come to feel inevitable amid a maelstrom of unrest at Anfield. Making a change so soon after the end of the season was viewed internally as the best way to limit disruption for a squad that's already facing the prospect of a significant revamp this summer.
"That this was a difficult decision for us to make as a club goes without saying," Liverpool's ownership said in a joint statement on Saturday. "The contribution Arne has made to Liverpool FC in the time that he has been with us has been significant, meaningful and -- most importantly of all to supporters and ourselves -- successful."
Of course, history will always define Slot's greatest success at Liverpool as his Premier League triumph. His side won the 2024-25 title by a 10-point margin and likely would have made their dominance count further had they not been afforded the luxury of taking their foot off the gas after sealing top spot with four games remaining.
It was a remarkable feat, and just the second time Liverpool had won the title since the inception of the Premier League in 1992. But to simply reduce Slot's legacy to one piece of silverware would do an enormous disservice to a head coach whose achievements should be fortified by the passage of time.