Liverpool followers could also be barely, and understandably, involved about their membership’s imminent appointment of Arne Slot as their new supervisor.
We’ve acquired to imagine the Dutchman was at finest their third selection after Xabi Alonso turned them down and the Ruben Amorim path went chilly after his ill-advised flight to East London.
But for continuity’s sake, the Feyenoord boss could be the most suitable choice for Liverpool. Here are 5 the reason why Arne Slot is the brand new Jurgen Klopp.
Mixing it with the Big Boys
Like Klopp, Slot’s taking part in profession bears no comparability to what he’s achieved as a coach. He was a mediocre No. 10 who performed for mediocre golf equipment in PEC Zwolle, NAC Breda and Sparta Rotterdam. As a coach, first at AZ Alkmaar, he picked up extra factors per recreation (2.11) than every other coach within the membership’s historical past, ending high with Ajax within the season lower brief by Covid, and earned a transfer to Feyenoord, a sleeping large very similar to Borussia Dortmund earlier than Klopp arrived from Mainz.
Feyenoord had completed fifth the season earlier than Slot joined, however the soccer was rotten below predecessor Dick Advocaat, there was no cash to talk of and having been embarrassed within the Europa League, dropping twice to Austria’s Wolfsberger, captain and high scorer Steven Berghuis left for Ajax. It was all very bleak.
Slot revolutionised the taking part in type (extra on that later) in his first season on a shoestring funds; they completed third within the Eredivisie and narrowly misplaced the Europa Conference League ultimate to Jose Mourinho’s Roma.
In his second season, with a switch surplus of €40m after Tyrell Malacia and Luis Sinisterra had been among the many big-name departees in the summertime of 2022, Slot took Feyenoord to the title. All of the 17 gamers that joined forward of that title-winning season had been signed for a similar quantity Ajax spent to herald Steven Bergwijn from Tottenham.
It took slow-coach Klopp one other season to win the title at Dortmund. But as with Slot at Feyenoord, the German took a traditionally massive membership and made them really massive once more, spending subsequent to nothing within the course of – Mats Hummels, Robert Lewandowski and Shinji Kagawa had been extremely signed for £8m mixed – having had a mid-table aspect in Mainz, much like AZ Alkmaar, punching far above their weight beforehand.
A media darling
“He is so similar to Klopp,” Dutch journalist Marcel van der Kraan informed the Football Daily Podcast. He’s “charismatic” and “full of energy” on the coaching discipline and in press conferences, the place journalists seem to have a really comparable mindset to once they’re confronted with the present Liverpool boss: they actually need him to love them.
He’s partaking, well mannered, smiley and humorous. At the top of final season, when linked with the Tottenham job, he was requested about his want to handle within the Premier League and replied: “I will go over their for the sun.” We didn’t say he was a humorist, however like Klopp when he’s not banging on about 12.30 kick-offs or insulting reporters over their physique mass, Slot enjoys the light-hearted aspect of issues in addition to deep dives into particular techniques and the nitty gritty of soccer administration.
The actual check of his jovial nature will are available instances of adversity, which he’s positive to return throughout at Anfield however is but to really expertise in his brief managerial profession. He could very effectively grow to be as prickly as the person he’s set to exchange, however we will at the very least anticipate a honeymoon interval of climate jokes and equally partaking comedy.
READ MORE: The many instances Liverpool supervisor Jurgen Klopp has come throughout as an enormous arse
Attackers defending and creating
Slot reportedly performed clips of the 2021 Champions League ultimate between Chelsea and Manchester City in his first workforce assembly as Feyenoord boss and requested his gamers why they thought there have been so few probabilities regardless of the unbelievable attacking expertise on the pitch. The reply was easy: these attackers had been defending. And so too is his mantra, shared by Klopp: we defend by attacking.
There are variations of their type. While Liverpool’s tactical identification below Klopp has been constructed round ‘gegenpressing’, the place they hound opponents each once they construct up – seeing a poor go, dangerous first contact or incorrect positioning as a ‘pressing trigger’ – and instantly after they lose possession, Slot asks his gamers to press on a regular basis. Exhausting initially, however as evidenced by Feyenoord over the past couple of seasons, they quickly get used to it, and it’s mighty efficient.
Since Slot was appointed in 2021, in response to Opta, Feyenoord have gained possession within the ultimate third greater than any workforce in Europe’s high 5 leagues plus the Eredivisie: 722 instances, with Liverpool second at 706. Feyenoord and Liverpool additionally rank first and second respectively for top turnovers gained, with Liverpool first and Feyenoord second for pressed sequences, which is the variety of instances a workforce breaks opposition passing sequences at three or fewer passes by way of a defensive motion, inside 40 metres of the opposition’s aim.
Feyenoord additionally rank first for top turnovers leading to photographs with 201; Liverpool are fourth under Bayern Munich (192) and PSV Eindhoven (192) on 184. Slot’s groups, like Klopp’s, win the ball excessive and take advantage of it.
High defensive position
It proved to be a significant downside for Liverpool final season due to an ageing midfield unable to press effectively mixed with Virgil van Dijk’s struggles, however when it’s labored it’s actually labored. When the Fab Three had been of their prime, with Georginio Wijnaldum tearing round after them and Van Dijk an indomitable large in defence, Liverpool’s excessive defensive position was sensible. It’s been excellent once more this season, and Slot’s Feyenoord function in a close to similar method.
One method of measuring the height or aggression of a workforce’s defending is begin distance, which measures how far upfield a workforce’s open play sequences begin in metres. According to Opta, since 2021 Manchester City rank first throughout Europe’s high 5 leagues plus the Eredivisie with a begin distance of 45.6 metres, however Feyenoord are second at 44.9m and Liverpool simply behind them, actually and metaphorically, at 44.6m.
READ MORE: Why Arne Slot is WORSE than Ten Hag and but one way or the other masses higher
Entertainment
It’s necessary to Slot that his groups play good soccer. He understands the significance of entertaining the followers. “I want as many good football players as possible in the team and I want to make them work as hard as possible,” he stated of his philosophy, and Liverpool followers, in addition to the broader soccer public, can relaxation straightforward within the data that Slot is as a lot an admirer of the ding dong battles between the Premier League’s finest as anybody. “Manchester City-Liverpool for me is the ultimate game,” he stated.
There will probably be issues over how Slot offers with larger names and higher gamers, however Marco van Basten believes that may, if something, assist the Dutchman in his pursuit of gorgeous soccer at Anfield.
“If you get AZ and Feyenoord to play [good] football, you will also get the big clubs to play [good] football,” Van Basten stated. “I think it would only become easier for him because you have better players who understand what you want sooner.”