It appears Arne Slot is edging closer to being named as Jurgen Klopp’s successor at Liverpool and has made his intentions clear.
The Dutchman ‘absolutely believes’ a deal can be reached between the Reds and Feyenoord and has not stayed reserved about his keenness to move on. He remains Liverpool’s top target and would start his tenure this summer.
Slot has been headhunted after Xabi Alonso declared he was staying at Bayer Leverkusen and links with Ruben Amorim grew cold. The 45-year-old is an outspoken coach who is praised as having excellent communication skills. The ECHO answers the questions Liverpool supporters will be asking, should his appointment be confirmed.
Who is Arne Slot?
Slot has been the manager of Eredvisie club Feyenoord in the Netherlands for three years and boasts a career win ratio of 61%. He lifted the Dutch cup on Sunday having clasped hands on the league title last year
His success brought links with jobs at Leeds United and Tottenham last season, both of which he dismissed. Slot – who has won Eredivisie manager of the year for the past two editions – penned a new deal in May, which is why Feyenoord are wishing to negotiate a sizeable compensation fee.
Liverpool would be the fourth club he has managed, having previously taken charge of AZ Alkmaar and second-tier Dutch club Cambuur. Slot only stepped into management in 2017, four years after retiring from his playing career.
During his time on the pitch as a midfielder, he featured for a number of domestic clubs such as Sparta Rotterdam and PEC Zwolle. He hung up his boots having tallied more than 390 appearances, in which he scored 81 goals and secured two top-flight promotions.
What is Arne Slot’s playing style?
Perhaps a big part of the reason why Liverpool have made him their top choice is his aggressive playing style. He is certainly not a Klopp 2.0 but he adopts similar principles, more so than Amorim does.
Former Reds star Dirk Kuyt has crowned him as having his “own style” of play, but it essentially consists of containing teams in their own half and producing eye-catching attack phases in a 4-2-3-1 formation, being a big fan of the double-pivot.
That midfield duo initially start the attacking transition staying deep before joining the attacking four – wingers, no.10 and striker – as the team squeezes up the pitch. Triangles and quick passing is a familiar feature to Liverpool fans, as is the high press.
His defence will also drop deeper when needed to, though, and are not married to the high line. The Liverpool squad will be able to play in this system but the lack of natural pivots is a hole that will need to be plugged.
Will Liverpool appoint Arne Slot?
Slot himself is sure that a deal can be closed. Speaking on Thursday, he said: “I’m confident it will work out because I think it’s already been done very well. You can always look at it differently but it’s already been done… I absolutely believe they will reach an agreement.”
Sky Sports also reports that a deal could be completed soon as negotiations continue regarding his compensation fee, thought to be just under £10m. Liverpool don’t have too much time to get a new manager in place ahead of the summer and the club risks a rushed process if a deal for Slot hits the buffers.
What has Jurgen Klopp said?
Klopp was asked about Slot in Friday’s press conference and admitted he was not privy to any private information. He said: “So I didn’t read anything but Tony (Barrett, press officer) told me that Arne said something.
“I don’t know anything about it. Not involved in the process (of appointing his successor) just to clarify that. I like a lot about it, if he is the one, he wants to take the job. Really. Is desperate. ‘Come on, let’s go for it. Excited’.
“I like the way his team play football. All the things I hear about him as a guy, a good guy. Some people I know know him, I don’t know him yet. Some people tell me that he is a really good guy. I like that a lot.
“Good coach, good guy. Looking forward for the club if he is the solution or the man. I’m more than happy. It’s not up to me to judge these things but it all sounds really good to me.”
