Arne Slot is FINISHED after what James Pearce just said

Back when Mo Salah initially had his fallout with Liverpool head coach Arne Slot it was the Dutchman who emerged with the majority of the support in the media.

It was written in various quarters that the 47-year-old had handled a difficult situation well. And it was also noted that Liverpool embarked on a decent set of results once Slot got Salah out of the way.

Again - following the game against Arsenal - Slot was described as having got his tactics spot on in a bore draw.

Generally despite Liverpool’s poor Premier League title defence the head coach has been spared much of the blame.

But are there signs that perception is beginning to turn?

At the weekend Liverpool lost once again - this time to a Bournemouth side without a lot of key players and in the doldrums results-wise themselves.

A last-gasp goal was conceded to condemn the Reds to a loss on the south coast and this time there was no holding back.

LFC insider takes aim at Slot

James Pearce in the Athletic for example has been a solid voice behind Slot during these challenging few months. But even the trusted Liverpool insider seems to be gearing up for the end of his reign.

He took aim at Slot for sanctioning the signings of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak rather than spreading the money out among more signings.

That despite the fact that Liverpool operate a sporting director model - whereby the buck should stop with Richard Hughes.

“It was a collective recruitment decision to spend £241m on two marquee signings last summer rather than spread that money around on more deals,” the report reads.

He then aimed another barb at the 2024/25 title-winning mastermind. This time it was for picking more or less the same team week after week despite several players appearing jaded.

“The Dutch head coach bemoaned fatigue and a lack of options on Saturday, but he didn’t have to retain 10 of the 11 who started in Marseille,” Pearce wrote.

Arne Slot's Liverpool exit could be speeding up

And he also picked up and ran with a point previously made on these pages - that Slot doesn’t trust his squad players.

“Part of the issue with the depth of the squad is that Slot is so reluctant to turn to certain personnel on the fringes,” he wrote.

“There’s a lack of trust and that leads to some regulars being overworked.”

And he even brought up the issue of Rio Ngumoha - who should be getting longer spells in the team right now instead of Cody Gakpo.

“Not for the first time, young left-winger Rio Ngumoha should have replaced the ineffective Cody Gakpo much earlier,” he wrote of the encounter at the Vitality Stadium.

Liverpool offered Ngumoha a new contract last summer - his first pro deal - and he is seen within the club as a senior option even if that opinion isn’t totally conveyed by Slot himself.

The wider point here is Pearce and Co. have the inside line on what’s going on at Liverpool. At difficult times he has been quite lenient on Slot - even with the supporter base turning on the former Feyenoord boss.

But this set of criticisms can be interpreted in only one way. Even those closest to the club have come to the conclusion that Slot isn’t worth defending without qualification any longer.

This is a key message - and one which could begin the drumbeat towards his inevitable departure.

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