The idea Liverpool should sack Arne Slot is rubbished by one writer who believes the Dutchman ‘performed a miracle’ with an ‘ageing team’.

That is obviously really quite preposterous, much like mentioning Max Dowman in the same breath as Thierry Henry.

And Elliot Anderson is lovely.

Slot stuff

The dictionary definition of ‘miracle’ is ‘an act or event that does not follow the laws of nature and is believed to be caused by God’.

And that, according to the Daily Mail‘s Oliver Holt, is applicable to a very good football team winning the Premier League title.

He is raging against the idea that Arne Slot should be sacked – or ought to resign– for this really quite poor Liverpool season, in part because he ‘frankly, performed a miracle on Merseyside’.

Did Slot turn water into wine without anyone noticing? Or grow hairs on his head? Or shatter the world record for biggest spend in a single transfer window, only to likely win nothing while engaging in a battle for Champions League qualification with Brentford and Everton?

He did do that last one actually, but Holt would rather it be ignored because…

‘He took Klopp’s ageing team and he improved it. He defied all expectations that Liverpool would enter a period of decline and he led them to the league title.’

‘Klopp’s ageing team’? The one which had an average of 26.6? The oldest players being 32-year-olds Mo Salah (Golden Boot winner, most assists, Player of the Year) and Virgil van Dijk (captain, Team of the Year nominee)? With the rest of the 20 most-used players aged between 21 and 28 aside from Alisson (31) and Andy Robertson (30)?

That ‘ageing team’?

Slot certainly ‘improved it’, but it is also worth pointing out Liverpool scored and conceded the exact same number of league goals in 2023/24 and 2024/25, winning the title with 84 points in the latter season and finishing third with 82 points in the former.

Liverpool certainly weren’t backed by many to win the Premier League title last campaign, and it was an excellent achievement, but it was no ‘miracle’ for them to do so.

There is a line about how Slot operates with ‘class’ and ‘was always keen to give Klopp credit for what was achieved’ – Holt weirdly makes no mention of some of the Dutchman’s recent needless digs at his predecessor– before the insistence that Slot is not ‘getting the credit he deserves even for this season’.

A reminder that they spent an absolute fortune to go from 1st to 5th, exiting both domestic cup competitions in heavy defeats, and suffering 10 Premier League defeats– more than since Brendan Rodgers was in charge – with seven games remaining.

The tragic death of Diogo Jota is cited and remains entirely relevant as both a partial justification for Liverpool’s poor performances and results, and a situation which puts the relative unimportance of everything into perspective.

Perhaps ‘their season was over before it began’ because of that grief. But as Steven Gerrard and a great many others have pointed out, this Liverpool spiral started around the time they were knocked out of the Champions League and failed to turn up in the Carabao Cup finalin the space of five days in March, after which they won just four of their last nine Premier League games before spending ￡450m in the summer to have precisely zero depth at centre-half.

‘Add to that the fact that Slot lost Trent Alexander-Arnold, one of his best players, to Real Madrid. And he lost Luis Diaz, another of his best players to Bayern Munich. And he lost Mohamed Salah, another of his best players, to old Father Time.’

That’s fair on Alexander-Arnold, although Slot had ample time to prepare for an inevitable exit. They received ￡65.5m for Diaz. And again, Salah was literally the best player in the league last season so it feels a bit rich to put his personal slump down simply to age and not obscure ideas like tactics and such.

All in all, the idea that Slot ‘is holding Liverpool together’ rather than being one of the primary reasons they are starting to fall apartseems as fanciful as saying them winning the title in the first place was a ‘miracle’.

Training day

Elsewhere on the MailOnline:

‘Mikel Arteta pinpoints what Arsenal must do ahead of Champions League showdown in Lisbon… and breaks silence on bizarre training routine’

Some might say he broke his silence. Others might suggest he spoke about the ‘bizarre training routine’ on the very same day it was used, at the earliest possible opportunity.

To the Max

Arsenal supporters fearing the ultimately remarkably hilarious worstneed no longer worry, for The Sun websiteprovides a ‘good omen’ for the rest of the season.

While it is true that ‘their quadruple chase’ has been ‘slashed to a double bid’ in the space of just two crushing games, ‘things took a similar turn’ when Arsenal last won the title.

Back then, they were knocked out of the FA Cup and the Champions League in the space of three days – by Manchester United and Chelsea respectively, rather than second-tier Southampton – but were able to ‘use the hurt’ of those defeats to power through in the Premier League.

That happening as it did in 2004 means that there is no-one relevant left at the club to channel that experience and ‘fuel a special ending’ to a season taking place 22 years later, but still.

They also did have a Thierry Henry back then, which Joshua Hall concedes:

‘They’re without an Henry of their own, not least because Bukayo Saka still remains out injured for the Gunners after withdrawing from international break.’

Mediawatch adores the excellent Bukayo Saka, but let’s ignore that comparison and never make it again.

‘But perhaps they have someone elsewhere in their ranks that could step up to the plate and inspire this squad to get over the line.’

Please don’t. If you can’t sense where there is going, dear innocent reader, consider that the image linking to this article features Henry alongside non-bottler Max Dowman.

‘On Saturday, 16-year-old Max Dowman was arguably Arsenal’s best player and unbelievably appeared to be the only attacking spark for the visitors at times.’

Sake.

‘It would be a surprise if the teenager was the one to drag the Gunners over the line, but stranger things have certainly happened.’

Like pretending Arsenal losing a final at Wembley before being beaten by Championship Southampton is a ‘good omen’ because they lost two games more than two decades ago?

Flaming ‘Ell

”He compliments Mainoo’ – Rio Ferdinand names No1 Man Utd transfer target’ – The Sun website.

How lovely of Elliot Anderson.