Arne Slot spoke with Jürgen Klopp to gauge his views on the Liverpool squad soon after taking over, the new Reds manager has revealed in his first interview since joining.
Slot, 45, officially started as Liverpool boss on June 1st, succeeding Klopp after nine years at Anfield. Now, in his first interview with the club, the former Feyenoord head coach has set out his plan for the Reds – and how his predecessor has already helped.
“He [Klopp] gave me more than a few good tips,” Slot told liverpoolfc.com. “What stood out for me was that he was so happy for me and that – and I think he said this in the media as well – he would be my biggest fan from now on because he supports Liverpool in the best possible way. You don't see this very often. It says a lot about his character, the way he handled this situation.
“I did the same in my former clubs when I started over there. I think if someone worked at a club for nine years [and had] been so successful, you want to know all about it from him and you also want to know things about the players, although I think it is also important to get my own opinion about that.
"You can use all this information he has because he did so well, not only in terms of results but I think also everybody saw in his farewell and the years before how popular he was.”
Slot faces a task not dissimilar to David Moyes and Unai Emery when they replaced legendary managers at Manchester United and Arsenal respectively. Although he’ll hope to better their records, the Dutchman has been frank about the impact Klopp had on both Liverpool and wider football.
He said: “I am 45 now and [have been] watching football for a long time, and I think this was an era where everybody looked at the Barcelona side of Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta and [Lionel] Messi and the rivalry there was between Real Madrid, with Cristiano Ronaldo being there.
“And I think when that came to an end, the new rivalry in European football came because of Jürgen. He managed Liverpool and Pep Guardiola, of course, managed Manchester City, and I think for everyone who loves football it was a fantastic era to watch them getting the best out of each other.
“He has done a tremendous job over here and I am really happy with that as a fan. As his successor he left Liverpool in the best possible way.
“[A] real good team, real good players who managed to be on top for a very long time, but I think in the end we would all love to see Liverpool a bit higher than third place. This is the challenge we are facing now – to build on from what we have.
I have all the confidence in this because of the players, that we can add a few things where we hopefully can get a bit more points than 82, which is necessary with the likes of Arsenal and City.”
If Slot’s aims are to return Liverpool to the top spot of English football then he’s not resting on his laurels. Announced almost a month ago, the former midfielder has been busy already.
“Let's be clear,” he said, “I don't start today. I've been in a lot of contact with staff members already, from people who are working here to the new staff members that are coming in. And, of course, almost every day Richard [Hughes, Sporting Director] and me are calling each other.
“I've seen a lot of training sessions already and I think this is where you bring the culture, and they [the players] are always working hard – like the fans see during the game.
“I think it's always interesting if you are the successor of Jürgen Klopp and also Pepijn Lijnders… to see what their ideas were on the training pitch. We [managers] all try to steal a bit from each other.
"Mostly this is done by looking at the games, but if you can see the way they train that can only help you. Let one thing be clear: the players are not going to get all the same exercises again – we will implement our own things. But it's interesting to see what they did during the week.”
Slot will lead his first Liverpool game in a friendly against Real Betis on a pre-season tour in America. He will take charge of his first Premier League when the Reds travel to Portman Road to face Ipswich Town on Saturday, August 17th.
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