Arne Slot: Liverpool’s Risky Safe Bet

Jürgen Klopp announced he would leave at the end of the season, leaving a void in Liverpool’s coaching seat. Although Ruben Amorim (Sporting) and De Zerbi (Brighton) were rumoured as potential successors, it was Klopp himself who announced last week that it would be Arne Slot. But who is he?

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Slot’s Story

The first question that comes to mind is: Why him? Arne Slot might not be the name that many fans expected, but his cultural fit is undeniable. As a player, he was far from a star – his spells at Zwolle and Breda largely remained unnoticed. While he helped his teams achieve decent rankings on the table, titles were never part of it. 

Slot was described as not particularly athletic but compensated with his footballing intelligence. Recognizing that coaching was his future, Arne Slot hung up his boots at age 35.

Coaching Start at Cambuur

Arne Slot’s journey follows the typical coaching trajectory – starting as a player who behaved like a coach at the end of his career and then moving to assistant roles. His ambitions became increasingly obvious job after job. Cambuur was his first professional coaching gig, where he was an assistant to Henk de Jong. 

De Jong left the club in 2016, and Rob Maas arrived after the team was relegated to the second national division. Under Maas, the club had a shaky start, and after only 10 games, he was dismissed, allowing Slot to work as interim with Sipke Hulshoff.

A few months later, after helping the team climb up from the lower echelons of the league to a place that secured promotion playoffs, the club announced the promotion of the two managers. Although some had expected he would continue his career at Cambuur, he left the club after the season to join the legendary club AZ as an assistant. 

Joining AZ

From the beginning, the AZ board praised Arne Slot for being “ambitious and innovative.” Initially assisting John van den Brom, Slot was eventually promoted to head coach for the 2019-2020 season. AZ had been trophyless in the previous two years – finishing third and fourth in the Eredivisie and losing the cup final – which was deemed insufficient by the board. 

Slot’s first season was exceptional. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, AZ qualified for the UEFA Conference League Round of 32 and finished second in the Dutch Eredivisie on goal difference to Ajax.

AZ faced a setback the following season by missing the opportunity to qualify for the Champions League against Dynamo Kyiv. On the other hand, they achieved a notable Europa League victory against Napoli. However, Slot’s tenure at AZ ended abruptly when the club discovered he was in talks with Feyenoord and sacked him, leaving the team seventh in the Eredivisie.

Golden Years at Feyenoord

The real story begins here; his previous tenures at other clubs served as a learning curve. Arne Slot took charge of Feyenoord in 2021, succeeding Dutch legend Dick Advocaat. Slot revamped his staff, bringing in the notable Robbie Van Persie as a field coach. 

His first season saw Feyenoord top their Conference League group that consisted of Union Berlin, Slavia Prague and Maccabi Haifa. 

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Only one team was able to stop Feyenoord in the rest of the Conference League competition. After eliminating major household names, like Partizan (Serbia) and Marseille (France), Roma stopped their successful run in the final (1-0). A quick contract extension followed as a reward for his efforts in building a team with a unique character in a limited time.

The second season was less successful in Europe, Feyenoord didn’t make it past the quarterfinals. However, Feyenoord were crowned Dutch champions for the first time since 2017. As a result, Slot won the Rinus Michel Award of the Year for the best manager of the Eredivisie season. This was the first time Arne Slot attracted interest from foreign clubs – including Tottenham Hotspur – but he chose to stay in the Netherlands.

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Arne Slot’s last season in Europe at Feyenoord ended abruptly after an early exit in the group stages. However, he managed to win the Dutch KNVB Cup and was praised as Feyenoord’s best manager in the club’s recent history. A week ago, Liverpool confirmed he would be their next manager, marking the next chapter in his coaching journey.

What to expect from Slot

The natural question is what he has done to climb to the top. His influences are well-known: Arne Slot has often mentioned Pep Guardiola as his primary inspiration, viewing the game through the lens of structure and positional play. At the same time, his suitability to succeed Klopp is also evident. Klopp’s influence on Arne Slot is noticeable, as he favors dynamic play through the wings over the patient buildup seen with Pep Guardiola, De Zerbi or Mikel Arteta. Slot often places his full-backs as secondary midfielders, creating a more dynamic network of players. 

Like many modern managers, Slot is not fixated on formations. Throughout his career, he has repeatedly switched between the classic 4-3-3 and the 4-2-3-1.

This allows him to control the opposition in different ways.

Slot has often been described as a tactical aficionado with a personal library filled with insights from clubs like Manchester City and Napoli. One thing is certain: Slot expects his teams to remain proactive, regardless of whether they have possession at the moment.

Multiple players have significantly improved under Slot’s reign, such as Orkun Kökçü, who blossomed into a dynamic player before signing for 25M with Portuguese club Benfica. Mats Wieffer is another name the media has noticed in the past season. He has become a valuable pivot and has attracted interest from numerous clubs.

However, focusing solely on player development would not do justice to Arne Slot without mentioning his character. Liverpool’s atmosphere is intensely charismatic, and winning the hearts of the Anfield faithful is no easy task. What sets Arne Slot apart from many other managers is his blend of empathy and firmness, tailored to the needs of the moment.

He is the first to hug his players when they need comfort, but he will also be the first to put them back in their places when they fall short of his expectations. Much like Klopp, Slot’s dynamic style demands physical rigor, and his players are well aware of it.

Without a doubt, Arne Slot resembles Klopp in many ways. However, he also incorporates elements of control, influenced by Pep Guardiola, notably through the use of inverted full-backs. 

He possesses the charisma that Anfield demands and Souness’s claims that he might not fit because of his lack of Premier League experience are simply a reflection of the so-called Premier League arrogance. If anything, it was the right time for Slot to change – and he might surprise quite a few fans.