To perfectly measure Arne Slot’s impact on Liverpool since his arrival in June, you only have to communicate it to those around him.
The Athletic has been told that at least three players at Anfield have said in private that Slot’s methods could have served the team well during times in recent seasons when they just missed out on the biggest prizes.
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This is to disparage Slot’s predecessor Jurgen Klopp, an Anfield legend who brought the club unprecedented good fortune in his Premier League days and for a much longer period than the Dutchman worked on Merseyside. The ease of the transition is also partly because Klopp laid such a solid foundation.
It’s more that they have contrasting styles, and that Slotch’s understated pragmatism would possibly have been favorable at times when Klopp’s ultra-intense, peppy football logo was slightly under-brand.
Slots’ attention to detail inspired, and just like at his former clubs Feyenoord and AZ Alkmaar, players marveled at how he predicts certain scenarios in which matches will take place.
It is too soon to properly judge, because Slot has a long way to go before he gets anywhere near Klopp’s achievements. But the early signs are hugely promising, with Liverpool top of the Premier League and the group phase of the Champions League.
There is no doubt Liverpool’s players and fans are convinced — but 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 what Slot’s broader global perspectives and notable debut look like.
“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 low-key and cool. I’m just as surprised by his good luck as Guyy’s. I think Jurgen would be an incredibly difficult guy to follow, but this guy is so good.
That view is not an isolated one. There is widespread admiration within English football at how well Slot is dealing with the demands of managing one of the world’s biggest clubs, with some sides left wondering if they missed a trick by not moving for him before 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 the holidays abroad, he spent time in the Netherlands with his family, who also came to see him earlier this month, when Liverpool faced Real Madrid and Manchester City, and also settled in Merseyside. Everything went surprisingly smoothly.
Interactions with opposition officials were brief but friendly. Slot is largely untroubled on the sidelines and has avoided any primary confrontations with his rivals, although he recently served a one-match touchline suspension for receiving three yellow cards after his frustration with refereeing decisions erupted.
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 is used to speaking bluntly: he did not sugarcoat the reasons why Jarell Quansah retired at half-time in his first Premier League game at Ipswich, saying the 21-year-old had lost too many duels and had lost too many duels. It has since been said that “mediocrity” is not tolerated, but this is not due to a lack of respect.
Pep Guardiola, a coach Slot has admired for years, had the composure to laugh at the option to retaliate after Slot recently joked about the 115 fee against Manchester City (a joke he temporarily clarified as light).
That being said, not all coaches should forget their feedback. In April 2023, while still at Feyenoord, Slot provoked José Mourinho before the Europa League quarter-final against Roma by saying that even if “(Roma’s) taste for football provides results, I prefer to see to Manchester City and Napoli”.
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These comments moved Mourinho and sparked a wild reaction after the match, with the Portuguese chasing Slot, shouting “Respect” and “Go see Napoli, watch Napoli now”. Slot, meanwhile, refused to take the bait, even as his team 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 doesn’t finish in the top 10, so if you lose a game against them it’s a big disappointment,” he said, comments that didn’t go down well at Forest. Since then, Slot Waste’s alleged “obsession” of that game has been a common joke for many Forest fans.
Slot, however, limited himself to expressing his remarks as a newcomer to the Premier League and made similar comments following the victories 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.
However, this is an exception. For the most part, the prevailing feeling is one of respect and admiration for Slot’s demeanor and control of the game.
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 trends have occurred. Liverpool have been fantastic in the second half of games, when Slot has had time to identify the opposition and devise an effective plan, which he then communicates to his team part-time, regularly using video clips and without raising his voice or wasting 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 opposing sides (they have faced Brighton and Southampton twice) in all competitions and have won 20 of them. According to Opta, Slot is the fastest manager to achieve 20 wins compared to a top-flight English club since William Sudell at Preston in 1888.
Staff members at a rival club recently discovered that Slot made so many tactical adjustments in a game that his own head coach was struggling to adjust. Players on that same team also said that in-game adjustments were more common than last season, when Klopp was in charge and made it more difficult to get out.
However, despite all those adjustments, Slot is identified as not being arrogant (or misguided) enough to completely destroy a winning formula.
“With Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool were really good in transition,” Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler told reporters in October. “They played with a lot of intensity. What I see now is like that. They sprint backwards, everyone. So when they’re overplayed, you think you’re out, you break their lines. But in two seconds the situation changes completely because they all have the attitude to defend. And that’s 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 a replacement for Antonio Conte in May 2023.
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The qualities he showed at Anfield – an easy-going personality, the ability to exude calm, communication skills and a preference for playing controlled, attacking football – resonate with Spurs management, who noted them last year when trying to convince Slot for him to leave. Feyenoord. .
He also appealed to Tottenham for their commitment to selling young talent. The club’s president, Daniel Levy, spoke in 2021 of the desire to “choose whose values reflect those of our wonderful club and return to playing football with the pleasure that characterizes us: fluid, offensive and entertaining, all of this moving to We accept our preference to see young players flourish within our academy alongside experienced talent.
When it became clear that Feyenoord was not willing to pay attention to Spurs’ donations – and Slot temporarily signed a new contract, partly because he was excited about the Champions League and ready to take advantage of the Dutch name’s victory in 2023 -, the Spurs have turned to Ange Postecoglou. Matrix that was intended to be cut from a similar cloth.
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In fact, Slot’s pragmatism seems a distinct contrast with Postecoglou’s approach — all of which makes the tactical battle in north London this weekend fascinating. The home supporters also have the chance to weigh up what could have been if Slot had considered a move 18 months ago.
Spurs were not the only club interested. Leeds United were considered Slot after the sacking of Jesse Marsch in February 2023. A delegation from Elland Road traveled to the Netherlands to speak with Slot’s representatives, only to find that he was willing to stay. Leeds eventually named Javi Gracia and succumbed to relegation that same season.
However, by the time Liverpool came calling, Slot’s scenario had changed. Now, the rest of the league can only watch him prepare for a very good first season in England.
(Top photo: Ronny Hartmann/AFP Getty Images)