Arne Slot did not feel the pressure of replacing Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, despite knowing the size of the shoes he had to fill at Anfield.
Klopp established himself as one of the best managers in Liverpool’s history during his nine-year spell with the club, and there were concerns that his departure at the end of last season would lead to the Reds struggling without him. However, the opposite has happened, with Slot arriving and winning the Premier League during his first season in charge of the club.
That success is in stark contrast to the fortunes of Manchester United and Arsenal following the respective exits of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger: United has been through countless managers since Ferguson’s 2013 departure and has not won the Premier League in 12 years, while the Gunners took several years to start competing for titles again following Wenger’s farewell.
Slot said he does not believe that it is “impossible” for new managers to succeed after replacing legendary figures — as his success this season shows.
“What Liverpool and Jurgen did well is leave the team in a good place, so there was a lot of quality,” Slot said when asked what Liverpool and Klopp had done well to lay the foundations for his arrival. “About myself, I do not put much emphasis on the fact that I replaced someone who did so well.
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“There are so many general opinions in football. For example, [one such opinion is] that if there is a bit of trouble in the hierarchy of the club, with sporting directors, general managers, or ownership, then it’s impossible to play good football on the pitch.
“That has nothing to do with Liverpool but that’s what people always say — I experienced that at Feyenoord where there were a lot of problems above me but it didn’t lead to us not performing on the pitch.
“[Another opinion is that] all of a sudden it’s impossible because Arsene Wenger or Sir Alex Ferguson left, to do well afterwards — that’s not something that should always happen.
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“I don’t believe in these things. If you have a good squad of players — and that’s what we had — we started to work with them and get the best out of them.
“I haven’t thought that much about replacing Jurgen, and how it was impossible at Arsenal or Man United multiple years ago.
“Life has changed, the world has changed, so you cannot compare these situations. If Pep is going to leave in one or two years, people will probably say it is possible to do well after he leaves.”
