To fully gauge the impact of Arne Slot at Liverpool since his arrival in June, you need only talk to those around his squad.
The Athletic has learned that at least three Anfield players have privately said that Slots’ strategies may have served the team well at times in recent seasons when they narrowly missed out on the biggest prizes.
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This is not to denigrate Slot’s predecessor, Jurgen Klopp, an Anfield legend who brought the club unparalleled success in the Premier League era and over a far longer period of time than the Dutchman has worked on Merseyside. The ease of the transition has also, in part, been down to Klopp laying such solid foundations.
Rather, it is an observation that they have contrasting styles — and that Slot’s quiet pragmatism may have been of benefit at times when Klopp’s brand of high-energy, ultra-intense football fell fractionally short.
Slot’s attention to detail has inspired and, just like at his former clubs Feyenoord and AZ Alkmaar, players have marveled at how he predicts certain scenarios in which matches will unfold.
It’s too early to judge properly, as Slot still has a long way to go before he gets close to Klopp’s achievements. But the early signs are incredibly promising, with Liverpool leading the Premier League and Champions League stage stage.
There is no doubt that Liverpool’s players and fans are convinced: what about the rest of football?
The Athletic spoke to several other people within the industry – coaches, executives and behind-the-scenes staff, some of whom asked to remain anonymous about their relationships – to find out how the world at large perceives Slot and his notable debut.
“Everyone in the game is very inspired by him,” says the boy from one of Liverpool’s main rivals in the Premier League. “He’s friendly, incredibly discreet and cool. I am as surprised by his good luck as by others. I imagine Jurgen would be an incredibly complicated guy to follow, but this guy plays really well.
This point of view is isolated. There is widespread admiration within English football for how Slot is meeting the demands of managing one of the world’s biggest clubs, with some groups wondering if they have missed a trick by making a move for him ahead of Liverpool.
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The 46-year-old has gone about his business in a quiet way. He works long hours at the training ground, eats most of his meals at the club and takes home a pre-cooked dinner if his schedule is tight.
He lives out of town and hasn’t had many interactions outside of work. During his holiday abroad, he spent time in Holland with his family, who also came to see him earlier this month when Liverpool faced Real Madrid and Manchester City, and also settled on Merseyside. Everything was remarkably stress-free.
Interactions with opposition managers have been brief but friendly. Slot is largely unflustered on the sidelines, and has avoided any major confrontations with rivals, although he has recently served a one-match touchline ban for picking up three yellow cards after his frustration at refereeing decisions bubbled over.
As a former colleague at one of his old clubs tells The Athletic: “What you’re seeing with Arne now is similar to his time at Feyenoord. Yes, he’s cool, but he’s a winner and he fights for what he believes in.”
Slot has a habit of speaking bluntly — he did not sugarcoat the reasons for taking off Jarell Quansah at half-time in his first Premier League game at Ipswich, saying it was because the 21-year-old had lost too many duels, and has since spoken of not tolerating “mediocrity” — but it does not stem from disrespect.
Pep Guardiola, a manager Slot has admired for years, had the composure to laugh at the option of retaliation after Slot recently joked about the 115 fees against Manchester City (a joke he temporarily clarified as light).
That said, not all managers are capable of ignoring their comments. In April 2023, while still at Feyenoord, Slot provoked José Mourinho before a Europa League quarter-final match against Roma by stating that if “(Roma’s) taste for football pays off, I would see Manchester City and Napoli. ”
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These comments were given to Mourinho under the skin and sparked a wild reaction after the match, with the Portuguese chasing Slot, shouting “Respect” and “Go see Napoli, watch Napoli now”. Slot, for his part, refused to take the bait. even though his team had lost 4-2 on aggregate.
The only game Liverpool lost under Slot, at home to Nottingham Forest in September, caused some unease in the opposition field as he spoke disrespectfully of the club that finished in 17th position last season.
“Normally this team isn’t ending up in top 10, so if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment,” he said — comments that did not go down well at Forest. Ever since, Slot’s supposed ‘obsession’ with losing that match has become a running joke for many Forest fans.
Slot, however, stuck to his observations as a Premier League newcomer, making similar comments after wins over Ipswich and Brentford.
“Two good teams, but I’m not expecting them to be in the top six in the upcoming year,” he said, a remark which did not provoke anywhere near the same kind of scrutiny.
That, however, is an outlier. For the most part, the overriding feeling is one of respect and admiration for both Slot’s conduct and his in-game management.
It was Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna who was the first to highlight this fact, after Liverpool struggled with their opponents’ direct technique in the first half at Portman Road. Slot temporarily found a solution by releasing Quansah for Ibrahima Konate, and Liverpool claimed a 2-0 victory. McKenna later noted that he hoped Liverpool would “have a smart season”.
Since then, similar patterns have followed. Liverpool have been far superior in the second half of games when Slot has had time to work out the opposition and devise an effective plan, one which is then communicated to his team during the half-time interval, usually with the aid of video clips and without any raised voices or loss of self-control.
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A good example came against Real Madrid earlier this month, when moving Curtis Jones into a more central area allowed room for Conor Bradley to fly forward into space down the right flank. There are countless other instances.
Liverpool have played 24 games against 22 other warring sides (they have faced Brighton and Southampton twice) in all competitions and won 20 of them. According to Opta, Slot is the fastest manager to achieve 20 wins against the best English club since William Sudell at Preston in 1888.
Staff members at a rival club recently discovered that Slot was making so many tactical adjustments that his own head coach was struggling to adapt. Players on that same team also said that in-game adjustments were more common than last season, when Klopp was in charge, and made the exit difficult.
However, despite all those adjustments, Slot is identified as not being arrogant (or misguided) enough to completely destroy a winning formula.
“Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool have been smart in the transition,” Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler told reporters in October. “They played with a lot of intensity. What I see now is like this. They’re running backwards, everyone. So when they get overplayed, you think you’re out, you break their lines. But in two seconds the scenario changes absolutely because everyone has an attitude of defending. And that is something special.
One of the reasons Liverpool put so much faith in Slot this summer was because they believed he could find tactics to expand and players who are already at the club. His task was to get those with prospects who had gone off the rails in shape. Ryan Gravenberch, Ibrahima Konate and Darwin Núñez are three outstanding examples and the paintings he has made so far with the first two exhibitions are marked.
On Sunday, Slot takes his Liverpool to Tottenham Hotspur, the club that has been pushing hard to sign him as Antonio Conte’s replacement in May 2023.
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The qualities he demonstrated at Anfield – an unpretentious personality, the ability to radiate calm, communication skills and a preference for playing controlled, attacking football – resonate with Spurs officials, who noticed it last year when they tried to convince to Slot to leave. Feyenoord.
He also appealed to Tottenham because of a commitment to promoting young talent. The club’s chairman, Daniel Levy, spoke in 2021 of the need to “select someone whose values reflect those of our great club and return to playing football with the style for which we are known — free-flowing, attacking and entertaining — whilst continuing to embrace our desire to see young players flourish from our academy alongside experienced talent.”
When it became clear that Feyenoord was unwilling to pay attention to Spurs’ offers, and Slot temporarily signed a new contract, partly because he was excited about the Champions League and willing to take advantage of the Dutch victory in 2023, Spurs They turned to Ange. Postecoglou. Matrix intended to be cut from a similar cloth.
GO DEEPER
What happened to Arne Slot and why did Tottenham still appoint a coach?
Indeed, Slotch’s pragmatism contrasts sharply with Postecoglou’s technique, making tactical warfare in north London this weekend fascinating. Home enthusiasts also have a chance to assess what might have happened if Slot had had a resolution 18 months ago.
Spurs were not the only club interested. Leeds United considered Slot after Jesse Marsch was sacked in February 2023. A delegation from Elland Road travelled to the Netherlands to speak to Slot’s representatives, only to find that he was happy to stay put. Leeds eventually appointed Javi Gracia and succumbed to relegation later that season.
When Liverpool came calling, however, Slot’s situation had changed. Now the rest of the league can only watch on as he shapes up a stunning first season in England.
(Top photo: Ronny Hartmann/AFP via Getty Images)
Gregg Evans is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering Liverpool. Previously he reported on Aston Villa and spent over a decade at the Birmingham Mail covering West Midlands football. His time with Villa included the drop into the Championship and then an incredible return to European football. He also covers golf. Follow Gregg on Twitter @greggevans40