Slot confident Liverpool will evolve next season
Arne Slot is confident his Liverpool side will evolve as a team ahead of next season after a disappointing 2025-2026 campaign.
The Reds host Brentford on the final day of the season, with a draw enough to secure a UEFA Champions League spot, while they could still finish as high as fourth.
Nevertheless, Liverpool's Premier League title defence did not go to plan, with Slot's side 23 points behind champion Arsenal heading into the final day, while it also failed to win any other silverware.
Liverpool was knocked out in quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League by holder Paris Saint-Germain, while it also lost in the last eight of the FA Cup to eventual winner Manchester City and in the Round of 16 of the Carabao Cup to Crystal Palace.
Liverpool has lost 19 games in all competitions this season. In the club's entire history, only in 1936-1937 (20), 1952-1953 (21), 1953-1954 (24), and 1992-1993 (20) has it ever lost 20 or more matches in a single campaign.
After the marquee signings of Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike during the summer, Liverpool was backed to win more trophies under Slot, who believes there will be success next season.
"We will evolve as a team because we went through a transition already last summer and these players are now longer in," Slot said.
"That's not only about them. It's also for the ones that we're already in, have now already one year of experience with playing together with these new players. So that will naturally mean that they evolve.
"Especially if I take into account how many minutes our new players have missed. So, if that does not happen next season, that will automatically evolve us straight away.
"I think there's a lot to be won for us to win in things we can improve compared to this season. And one of the things, of course, is having players available. But the second thing, we have to do better defensively and offensively.
"And hopefully signing one or two players can even accelerate that evolvement."
