Arne Slot instead of Jürgen Klopp – but how new is Liverpool FC really in 2024/25? After an orderly preparation, the Reds are full of confidence. But there are also disruptive factors
Jürgen Klopp only needed one microphone (if that) to entertain an entire room, and just one wrong throw-in decision to go off the rails on the touchline. Both will change radically at Liverpool FC. But otherwise?
For the first time in nine years, the Reds will start a new season without Klopp when they travel to promoted Ipswich Town on Saturday. Arne Slot, an outwardly calm, sober, sometimes stodgy Dutchman with no exceptional entertainment qualities, is stepping into the huge shoes that he’d best walk around completely because he won’t be able to fill them anyway
Liverpool haven’t signed a new player yet
The good thing for him and the Reds: Slot inherits neither a team that has just won the treble (but “only” the League Cup) nor one that has fallen apart after the departure of its great leader. The transfer policy fits in with this, with the summer window going as quietly as the new coach usually speaks: Liverpool have still not signed any new players, even though the squad places of Joel Matip and Thiago have become vacant. At least one defensive midfielder could still come in
“I’ve taken over a very strong team,” enthuses Slot. And the club management, in which returnee Michael Edwards is the new strong man in the sporting field and meticulously drove forward the coaching search for months, is also convinced that the current squad not only has enough potential for further development and a healthy age structure, but also fits Slot’s idea of soccer perfectly.
A 17-year-old comes up trumps at the dress rehearsal
The 45-year-old Dutchman also won the championship (2023) and cup (2024) at Feyenoord with aggressive counter-pressing, but at the same time he wants to focus even more than Klopp on possession soccer. In the summer, in which Liverpool won all four of their test matches – including a 2:1 win against Arsenal and a 3:0 win against Manchester United – he practiced clear, new patterns in the build-up play. Captain Virgil van Dijk and others often praised the clear guidelines and training sessions
Although the European Championship and Copa America tied down numerous regular players, the dress rehearsal in front of 59,000 spectators against Sevilla FC went surprisingly smoothly. Even attacker Darwin, who Slot wants to develop into the reliable goalscorer that the Uruguayan should be given his talents but never became under Klopp, was still missing in the 4-1 win. At the same time, England U-18 international Treymaurice Nyoni came up trumps. The 17-year-old winger can be expected to make further appearances in a season in which Liverpool are back in the Champions League after a year out.
Salah is not the only one entering the final year of his contract
The Reds’ bosses have made the transition after the Klopp era more difficult by the poorly communicated increase in ticket prices – and the fact that three key players are entering the season with contracts expiring in 2025: In addition to van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, this also includes Mohamed Salah, around whom there were already repeated transfer rumors in the preseason, which ultimately remained groundless, but will certainly not disappear and have the potential to be a disruptive factor.
It will be exciting to see how quickly Slot finds a profitable level with the Klopp “disciples” like Salah, especially when the first setbacks follow and the big deadline chase starts, which he is not used to in the Eredivisie. The starting position is clear: no one expects the England newcomer to win the league for the time being, but he should lead Liverpool to the Champions League in his first year.
Meanwhile, the fans are still waiting for his first emotional outburst. Against Sevilla, as the Guardian observed, his “most theatrical move was to take his hands out of his pockets to give another tactical instruction.”