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Gary Neville shares his theory on why Manchester United didn’t hire Liverpool’s Arne Slot this summer

Charles Jones

Fri 6 September 2024 9:45, UK

Arne Slot embarrassed Manchester United at Old Trafford this weekend as Liverpool thrashed the Red Devils once again.

Slot may be the new Dutch manager in the league, but he completely showed his Manchester United counterpart up.

Of course, United’s defeat has led to more conversations about Erik ten Hag’s situation at Manchester United.

Speaking on Stick to Football, Gary Neville was asked by Jamie Carragher why United didn’t hire Slot this summer, and he shared his theory.

Gary Neville’s theory on why Manchester United didn’t hire Arne Slot

The pundit shared his verdict on why United didn’t hire Slot.

“Why did Man United not employ Slot then?” Carragher asked.

“I think maybe they would’ve looked at Arne Slot. I haven’t got a clue, but they may have looked at him and thought can we really get rid of a guy who has two trophies in two years who hasn’t been backed by a proper structure to bring another Dutch manager in who’s basically got to start again,” Neville said.

Arne Slot to Manchester United would’ve been risky

Hindsight is always 20/20, and while it now looks like hiring Slot would’ve been a good choice by Manchester United, at the time, it would’ve been a serious risk.

Ten Hag’s stock was quite high after the FA Cup win, while Slot was an unproven commodity with a similar background to Ten Hag.

Let’s not forget, Slot was seemingly Liverpool’s third choice after both Xabi Alonso and Ruben Amorim, and there was no guarantee that this was going to work.

The early signs look brilliant, and Slot looks like the real deal, but it’s hard to begrudge any team that had reservations about hiring the former Feyenoord boss.

Slot looks like a top manager, but it was hard to judge how he’d get on in the Premier League before he arrived.