Liverpool-focused journalist David Lynch has rightly condemned some of the horrific personal abuse being levelled at Arne Slot from the murkiest corners of social media.
The head coach’s reputation has plummeted over the past 12 months, with the Reds suffering 20 defeats in all competitions this season and barely scraping into the fifth and final Champions League place from England, and there have been widespread calls for him to be relieved of his duties.
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However, FSG appear set to stick with the under-fire Dutchman for the time being, a stance which seems to be underlined by the expected appointment of Etienne Reijnen – previously part of his coaching staff at Feyenoord – to the backroom team at Anfield.
Lynch condemns online personal abuse of Slot
On Tuesday morning, Dominic King wrote an article for The Telegraph in which he wrote that ‘the level of opprobrium’ towards Slot has frequently ‘crossed the line’, a view which met with vocal opposition from numerous X users replying to the piece on the social media platform.
Lynch lamented some of the more vicious responses as he posted on X: ‘The replies to this post [King’s article on Slot] back up the piece perfectly. Criticism is fine, as is feeling Liverpool might need a change, but so much of this strays into outright abuse.’
In a follow-up post relating to the same topic, he underlined his viewpoint by saying: ‘You’re allowed to want him gone, just stop abusing him.’
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Criticism of Slot’s work is fine; personal abuse isn’t
No Liverpool supporter will be happy with how the past season played out, and many fans understandably feel that a change in the dugout would give the club a better chance of success next term than keeping faith with Slot.
We at Empire of the Kop have been quite critical of the head coach after a turgid campaign which has been rife with awful results, football which has been hard to watch, some truly bizarre public utterances from the 47-year-old and two headline-grabbing outbursts of frustration from Mo Salah.
However, there is (or at least should be) a clear dividing line between valid constructive criticism of the Dutchman’s performance in his job, and unacceptable personal vitriol which completely dehumanises a husband and father.
One of the most disgusting examples of the abuse being hurled at Slot can be seen below in a screenshotted post on X which, unsurprisingly, has since been removed. In fact, it’s so unspeakably vile that we advise reader discretion before viewing it.
You can want the manager at Liverpool changed, fair enough but then there is the vile abuse online toward him and his family.
I’ve seen some horrible stuff on here over the years but this one is one of the worst.
We need these out of the fanbase. pic.twitter.com/uc71vajCif
— Nick Collins (@Nick___Collins) May 26, 2026
Nothing can justify that extent of hatred towards another human being purely because of how they’re performing in their job.
Lynch hasn’t been afraid to call out Slot over certain tactical issues this season, but he’s right to condemn the online personal abuse of the Liverpool head coach because of how the team’s fortunes have deteriorated over the past few months.
Ultimately, we all want the Reds to be successful, whether it’s with the Dutchman in charge or somebody else. Yes, he absolutely needs to oversee a major improvement next term, and failure to do so could lead to a justifiable change in the dugout, but we don’t condone any personal vitriol towards him or his family.