Jürgen Klopp will be on the Liverpool FC touchline for another four games – and then Arne Slot will probably come in. The 45-year-old is looking to one of Klopp’s rivals in particular
Just in the week in which Jürgen Klopp had to say goodbye to the championship in his last season at Liverpool FC, his successor is becoming more and more concrete. It is no longer just The Athletic that is writing that Feyenoord coach Arne Slot is set to succeed the German on Merseyside.
And the 45-year-old confirmed on Thursday evening on the sidelines of Feyenoord’s league game at Go Ahead Eagles Deventer that he wants to take over the Reds. “I want to be the new Liverpool coach. My decision is clear,” Slot told ESPN, adding: “Feyenoord and Liverpool are in negotiations. I’ll wait and see what comes of it.”
Slot does not admire Klopp in the first place. But rather Pep Guardiola. “There is no team I would rather watch than Manchester City,” said Slot in an interview with Voetbal International around twelve months ago, when he had just led Feyenoord to their first championship in six years. He would study the Catalan’s team, Liverpool’s great rival, excessively and was “a control freak” like Guardiola. But isn’t Klopp?
As a player, Slot made over 200 appearances in the Eredivisie, playing in attacking midfield for PEC Zwolle, NAC Breda and Sparta Rotterdam. He hung up his boots in 2013 in order to switch to the coaching bench early on – as boss for the first time in 2019. He took 19 points from the first eight league games at his first station AZ Alkmaar – no coach in the history of the Eredivisie had ever had a better start. When that first season ended prematurely due to the coronavirus pandemic, AZ were only behind leaders Ajax on points.
Slot quickly set his sights on the next step and was even sacked by Alkmaar in December 2020 as a result. He was accused of no longer focusing enough on the club. The high-flyer had already negotiated with Feyenoord, where he joined for the 2021/22 season. And reached the Conference League final in his first season (0:1 against José Mourinho’s AS Roma). The championship followed in his second season. Although half the team had broken away from him between these two seasons
4-3-3 and excessive pressing
So Slot can break. And he can probably do Liverpool too. Because his clear signature includes excessive attacking pressing, aggressive running behind the full-backs and the basic 4-3-3 formation, which may look like Guardiola soccer in parts, but definitely also like Klopp soccer. Slot soccer is also played, actually always. Opponents have to adapt to it, not he to the opponent. The Reds have been used to that in recent years, and they should also like it.
With four games to go at the River Mersey, when it inevitably comes to stepping into shoes that can’t really be filled, Arne Slot is a candidate who may not yet fit in in terms of size, but could possibly fit in in terms of form. Ahead of the possible next step, he even keeps the focus this time. His Feyenoord is the only team that has been able to keep up with Peter Bosz’s outstanding PSV Eindhoven to some extent this Eredivisie season.
Slot still has a two-year contract with Feyenoord. A transfer fee of ten million euros is being discussed.
