Liverpool coach Arne Slot has the perfect platform to build on their Premier League glory

Liverpool coach Arne Slot celebrates the team’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur and confirmation of winning the Premier League title, which was achieved in his first year at Anfield. (Photo: Carl Recine / Getty Images)

By Yanga Sibembe

4 May 2025

Despite some detractors trying to dilute Arne Slot’s role in Liverpool’s league success, he was an important component of it.

In IsiZulu there is a popular proverb, “Izandla ziyagezana”, which basically means one hand washes the other. Examined deeper, however, it speaks of the importance of community and means nothing is achieved in a vacuum.

It is a phrase relevant to critics of Liverpool head coach Arne Slot. The Dutchman became the first coach from his country to steer an English team to a top-flight league title when Liverpool won this season’s English Premier League marathon on 27 April.

Naysayers have tried to dilute Slot’s achievement, saying he is harvesting fruit from seeds planted by his predecessor, Jürgen Klopp. But they forget that there had to be buy-in from the players when the change of leadership happened.

It is true that Slot inherited one of the best squads in Europe when he took over from Klopp before the 2024/25 season. The team boasts one of the most effective goal scorers in world soccer, Mohamed Salah, as well as the best defender in recent memory in Virgil van Dijk.

Yes, it was Klopp who played a part in Liverpool recruiting midfielders Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai. Both were instrumental in Liverpool winning just a second Premier League title. And it was Klopp who ensured that the Reds’ supporters would be welcoming of his successor.

“You welcome the new manager like you welcomed me. You go all in from the first day. And you keep believing and you push the team. Change is good,” Klopp said during his farewell speech last season.

He also led the Reds in a chant dedicated to Slot, flipping the lyrics of a song that the Liverpool faithful traditionally sang for him. Transitions don’t come much smoother than this.

Work to be done

Even with this support and the quality of players Slot inherited, there was never a guarantee that he would lead Liverpool to the pinnacle of English soccer at first try.

In 2013/14, David Moyes inherited a relatively strong Manchester United team that had just won the league title with Alex Ferguson. Though some of its stars were ageing, it was a competitive squad.

Certainly, they were capable of ending that campaign on a higher note than the lowly seventh spot they managed during Moyes’s sole season in Manchester.

There is no guarantee that Liverpool would have won the league this season if Klopp had remained in charge, even with the wheels falling off the Manchester City bus as they chased a fifth Premier league crown in a row. If anything, if someone had predicted City’s capitulation, they would surely have placed Arsenal in the favourites seat. The Gunners were the closest team to City in the two seasons preceding this one.

Liverpool finished third last season, trailing Pep Guardiola’s champions by nine points and second-placed Arsenal by seven. So, Slot may have inherited a quality team, but he still had work to do when he arrived.

A philosophical tweak

For one, the players had to adopt his philosophy, quickly. In the nine years Klopp spent in Merseyside, the Reds had played a particularly aggressive style of soccer. His message was clear: attack relentlessly. It was organised chaos or “heavy metal football”, as Klopp once termed it.

When Slot arrived, the Liverpool players had to adapt to his style of play. Like Klopp, he favours a pressing game, so that was nothing new, but Slot did have to recalibrate them to press the way his possession-based system demands.

Under Slot there has also been an emphasis on control in midfield.

As a result of this balance in the centre, spearheaded by Mac Allister and Szoboszlai (with Ryan Gravenberch complementing them), the forwards don’t have to defend as aggressively as they did under Klopp.

Salah said as much when noting the difference in how Klopp had deployed him compared with how he has played during Slot’s first season in Merseyside.

“He [Slot] is very honest. The Dutch are quite tough but he made our lives easier,” Salah told Sky Sports.

“Now I don’t have to defend much. The tactics are quite different. I said, ‘As long as you rest me defensively, I will provide offensively’. He listened a lot and you can see the numbers.”

The Egyptian has been sensational this season, boasting nearly 50 direct goal involvements in the league.

“When you play in the Premier League you have to defend, but I said that I can gamble and somehow I can make a difference. My number of assists shows that you can create chances as well,” Salah said.

Liverpool Slot Liverpool coach Arne Slot celebrates the team’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur and confirmation of winning the Premier League title, which was achieved in his first year at Anfield. (Photo: Carl Recine / Getty Images)

Building on success

So yes, Slot inherited a good team. But he was able to bring the best out of his players in the Premier League, at least. They did not do so well in knockout competitions – evidence that they are not perfect.

In the Champions League they fell in the round of 16, and Plymouth Argyle stunned them 1-0 in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Then they could not find a way around Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final, losing 2-1.

With this season essentially done and dusted, the question for Liverpool and their mentor now is how they can build on this promising start.

“The coach tactically brought the whole team to another level and that suits the players we have now. Hopefully we can gear up a little more in the next few years, but it’s a good start,” said attacker Cody Gakpo.

One important aspect in Liverpool building on this season’s momentum will be getting reinforcements. With Trent Alexander-Arnold on the cusp of joining Real Madrid, the Reds will definitely need to shop around for a right-back.

Players such as Darwin Núñez and back-up goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher are also said to be on their way out and will need to be replaced.

And Liverpool will also need to add a couple of marquee signings, especially because all their rivals will be out to make amends for falling short this season.

For now, though, the Reds can bask in the glory of just their second league title since 1990. Then Slot can start to plot a Premier League victory that no one will be able to water down. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

Front page 2 May

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

Sport

Work to be done

A philosophical tweak

Building on success