Taking over from Jurgen Klopp was never going to be easy, but Arne Slot quickly showed he was in tune with the Liverpool team’s ambitions.
As the Reds embarked on their pre-season tour in the United States, touching down in Pittsburgh last July, Slot wasted no time in laying out his plans for the season ahead to his new squad.
Andy Robertson recounts the moment. “He basically said ‘we finished third last season and the season before, but we now want to finish above the other two’. So, in his mind, it was clear that he was coming to win trophies. It wasn’t like he’d be happy with the top four. The players could get on board with that.”
And they’ve done just that. Liverpool is currently a commanding 15 points ahead at the top of the Premier League table with nine matches left to play, but the immediate goal is to secure a trophy for Slot right off the bat in today’s Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United at Wembley.
While Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish both secured silverware in their initial seasons at the helm, they had the advantage of years of experience within the club. Slot is on the verge of emulating Rafael Benitez as only the second ‘outsider’ to clinch a trophy within his first year as Liverpool boss.
“When you’re at a club like Liverpool you can’t afford a settling-in period,” admits Robertson. “It’s a massive club that expects to win trophies – and the manager was very clear on that from his first day.
“He came into a changing room and saw players that expect and are hungry to win trophies. That helped him and his staff to be positive as well. In pre-season he tried to get as many ideas as possible across to us so we could fire away.
“We got off to a good start and that momentum has carried on, but there’s still nine games to go in the league and we’ve got a lot of work to do. But as we sit here today, we’re in a really good spot.”
(Image: Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Yet, it seems inevitable that this current iteration of Liverpool may not be together for much longer. The introduction of a new manager invariably leads to changes within the squad.
Although it might have been postponed by one season, the overhaul of the squad under Slot’s management is expected to gain pace in the upcoming transfer period.
For the 31-year-old Robertson, there appears to be a recognition that the end of an era is near. And he’s not alone; as things stand, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold all look poised for free transfers when the summer arrives. This potential shift also aligns with the fact that Alisson Becker and Wataru Endo are also already into their thirties.
The finale might not be imminent this year, as Robertson concedes during a conversation with a select group of journalists at the AXA Training Centre: “We don’t know when, but it will come to an end shortly,” acknowledging the advancing age of some long-serving players. “I think you see the age of the players who have been here a long time, there’s a few of us in our thirties.
“But lads have made it clear they want to continue here and so do we all. We’re not really looking at it as the last dance. Players come and go all the time, that’s part and parcel at every football club. We’ve lost players pretty much every year since I’ve been here.
Learn more
“People want new players into our club, people want players out. That’s just the world we live in. That’s fans for you. That’s everything else for you. There’s always somebody elsewhere that they like the look of. That’s the world we live in.”
Under Slot’s guidance, there has been a noticeable shift in Robertson’s style of play, with the Scotland international adopting a more restrained approach compared to his previous marauding runs down the left under Klopp. This season, he has recorded only one assist, following a campaign where he managed two while Alexander-Arnold was primarily used as an inverted right-back.
“I’m in a different phase of my career now,” he says. “The manager is asking different things as well, when maybe you’ve been at a club for so long and people are used to you playing one way, then they maybe don’t accept you playing in another way or you think you’ve dropped.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some of my not-best performances this season, but I’ve also had some what I think were really good performances that maybe haven’t been highlighted as much as maybe they were five, six years ago when I was the new kid on the block.
“So I’m very happy where I’m at just now. The last couple of months I’ve been a kind of a mainstay in the team and played some really good stuff and the team has played really good stuff, which is the most important thing.
“I’d happily drop a one out of 10 every single week if the team kept on winning – although obviously at a club like Liverpool, you don’t stay in the team very long if you do that!”.
(Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Regarding the differences between Slot and his predecessor Klopp, Robertson noted: “The principles are always there but he changes a lot more on a game-to-game basis, whereas under the previous regime I think our blueprint to win a game was unmatched. We knew that if we did that to 100 per cent then the majority of teams couldn’t live with us. We’ve changed a bit more this season in terms of who we are playing against or how we can cause them problems with slight tweaks.
“He’s brought a calmer approach on the ball. It’s not as frantic but there are certain elements of what we had in previous sessions that are still there. He still wants us to be full of energy, with a high press and things like that.
“Credit to the manager and all of his staff. They always work tirelessly, look at the opposition and miss nothing. Then it’s up to us to put their gameplan into action – and luckily, more often than not, we have carried it out pretty well.”
While there’s no hint that Robertson might switch to the opposite flank in Alexander-Arnold’s absence – “I played on the right for Scotland once and changed to the left at half-time, so that probably tells you how that went!” he chuckles – he is expected to maintain his position over Kostas Tsimikas in defense. The thrilling 3-3 Premier League stalemate at Newcastle in December stands as a testament to the challenge Liverpool now confronts.
“That was one of the toughest games we’ve had in the Premier League this season,” Robertson reflects. “It was end-to-end and when you go to St James’, it’s always tough, they always make it a good atmosphere, and that will obviously be an element on Sunday.
“Our fans are always excellent when they go to Wembley, but I think Newcastle will certainly give them a good match. It should be an incredible atmosphere.
“Newcastle are a high energy team, they’re high pressing. We know what to expect from them on Sunday and we have to be ready for that. We’re going to need to be our best to get our hands on the trophy.”
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can read the original story in the Liverpool ECHO by clicking here.
