John Arne Riise says Xabi Alonso's move to Chelsea points away from a Liverpool plan to replace Arne Slot. The former Liverpool defender’s view is that if the club were seriously preparing a change, they would already have spoken to Alonso and kept him informed. He also said Alonso would have waited if he believed Liverpool had a real chance of appointing him.
Why Riise thinks the job is safer than the noise
Riise’s argument is not that Slot is free of pressure. It is that the Alonso move does not look like the behaviour of a coach waiting on an Anfield call. “I think it proves that they haven't spoken to his representative and they're not considering sacking Arne Slot,” Riise told goal.com.
That is a fair read of the available reporting, even if it does not close the book on the wider speculation. Some outlets have pushed the opposite line, but Goal’s framing is clear enough: the Alonso to Chelsea deal weakens the idea that Liverpool had already lined up a successor.
Why the pressure on Slot has not gone away
The pressure around Liverpool is still real. They are fifth in the Premier League after 37 matches with 59 points, and their last five league results read L, D, L, W, W. That kind of run explains why every managerial rumour now gets loud very quickly.
Riise admitted the fan reaction is not a good sign, pointing to the boos and the negative response to decisions on the pitch. He said Slot still has a big job ahead of him to rebuild belief from the stands and from the dressing room. That is the part of the story that keeps the speculation alive, even if the Alonso angle leans against an imminent change.
The other tension sits with Curtis Jones. He is reported to have fallen out with Slot and refused to sign a new contract, with his current deal said to expire in June 2027. Jones has still made 33 Premier League appearances, so this is not a fringe-player story, and Inter are said to have first made contact in January. Jamie Carragher also weighed in on Jones’s reaction to Mohamed Salah’s post, which only added to the sense that Liverpool’s internal mood is under scrutiny.
For now, Riise’s read feels stronger than the sack talk. Liverpool may be under pressure, and the boos are not going away any time soon, but the Alonso move does not read like a club already deep into a replacement plan. The next result will matter more than the noise, because that is what will decide whether the story stays speculation or starts becoming something harder for Slot to survive.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 5 outlets. How we work →
