Slot’s coolness lies at heart of Liverpool’s record-levelling title victory

PHIL NOBLE/REUTERS - 

Arne Slot quickly won over fans with a record start to the league campaign

Head coach inherited a fine culture and squad but his level-headedness helped propel club to 20th league win

Whereas Klopp was a collider of emotional energy, match-day Slot is Zen by comparison

28 Apr 2025 - The Guardian

Andy Hunter

Liverpool players were looking for signs last summer as to how their new head coach would succeed a club legend and turn his rich inheritance into Premier League champions. Arne Slot made sure they were unmissable from the start.

At the plush Fairmont hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, first port of call on Liverpool’s preseason tour of the US and their first bonding trip abroad last July, names would be written on a board giving advance notice of that day’s meeting schedule. There were one-onone meetings for players with a member of Slot’s coaching team, squad meetings with all of the new backroom staff, meetings to analyse the double training sessions and meetings to analyse individual performances within them. There had been two meetings a day at Liverpool’s Axa Training Centre before the trip but this was another level.

“I remember he showed a lot of clips from training,” recalled Ibrahima Konaté, one of several players to step up a level this season. “He showed one player who didn’t run well or stopped running and said: ‘He didn’t run now. Why, because I give you a compliment?’ He said the truth to everyone. Mo [Salah], Virgil [van Dijk], every player if something is wrong. Every player was like: ‘Oh, he looks at me every day, he looks at me every training session. I have to give 2,000% always.’”

Jürgen Klopp won hearts during nine transformative years as Liverpool’s manager. Slot, with his more educationist approach, absolute trust in the players bequeathed by Klopp and his own methods, sought to win over minds. The buy-in from a squad blessed with leaders and a mentality to match its talent, the strongest that Slot has encountered in both aspects, ensured it was possible. A record-equalling 20th league title is the reward.

Liverpool appointed a football nerd when Richard Hughes, their sporting director, met Slot at his home in Zwolle 12 months ago and presented the data analysis and character references that made him the club’s preferred choice to succeed Klopp. The timing of the German’s departure, announced in private to Liverpool’s owners in November 2023 and to a stunned public in January 2024, offered the rare luxury of time in the search for a replacement and it was not squandered.

Meetings that have become an established part of daily life at the training ground helped ingrain Slot’s tactical ideas into players during a pre-season disrupted by the European Championship. The head coach had his entire squad together for only 13 days before the Premier League opener at Ipswich but, in another sign of how things were changing, there were no complaints.

“It is a disadvantage,” said the phlegmatic Dutchman of the schedule. “But not an excuse.” Impromptu tactical discussions form part of Slot’s approach too. If the head coach bumps into a player in the corridors of the training ground he will grab a nearby tactics board and outline his thoughts. Rather than lambast below-par first-half performances, and there have been several, Slot heads for the tactics board during the interval and calmly explains the changes required. Immediate and vast improvements in the second half have been a feature of Liverpool’s campaign. Southampton at home in March was an exception. Slot slaughtered his players before talking tactics. It had a similar effect. A 1-0 half-time deficit became a 2-1 lead by the 55th minute and Liverpool won 3-1.

The 46-year-old has lived alone since moving to England. With his two children in exam years, he and his wife, Mirjam, agreed they should continue their schooling in the Netherlands. The separation has been a wrench but has enabled Slot to devote even more time to watching matches and opponents. His family visit whenever possible, as do his parents. Slot’s father, Arend, was portrayed as his harshest critic for bemoaning Liverpool’s performance in victory against Lille in January. The reality is different. Arend will accompany his son on post-match media rounds when he visits, standing in the background and beaming the smile of the proudest dad as Slot takes another victory in his stride. Slot’s reaction is not much different after a rare defeat; level-headed and refreshingly honest.

Whereas Klopp was a collider of emotional energy before, during and after games, match-day Slot is Zen by comparison. Most of the time. Before his uncharacteristic meltdown after two points ebbed away at Goodison Park, where his words to the referee Michael Oliver resulted in a two-match touchline ban, there was a pre-match scene that captured Slot’s coolness to perfection. David Moyes was engaged in conversation with Liverpool staff for several minutes before recognising his opposite number outside the away changing room. Slot had been on his haunches all that time, reading the programme. His demeanour reflected a coach with complete confidence in the work done on the training ground. No point stressing now.

Trust in the process was evident after the home defeat by Nottingham Forest last September. Slot was stunned to lose to a team that had been in relegation trouble the season before – he has changed his opinion on Forest now of course – but, even after falling behind in the next game in Milan, there was never any question of changing course. A 26-game unbeaten run in the league followed.

Slot, whose 11 wins in his first 12 matches are a record for a Liverpool manager, has never attempted to replace Klopp. A shared love of padel – the club’s coaches play after training every day and Slot even has his own padel coach – and dynamic, attacking football