Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has proven to be a masterstroke of an appointment at Anfield since he arrived from Feyenoord, and he once left Dutch legend Marco Van Basten with his “mouth open for an hour” after explaining his tactics to him.
Slot was relatively unknown in England when he arrived in the Premier League. But he had won the Eredivisie title at his old side and did a great job with AZ Alkmaar too.
Tactically, he has proven to be very astute and he has also made tweaks that have improved several Liverpool players. Ryan Gravenberch has reached new heights, for instance, while Cody Gakpo has found a new level of consistency in front of goal.
“Marco van Basten was incredibly interested,” journalist Marcel van der Kraan told BBC Radio 5Live, recounting a story about when Slot gave a talk at a panel during his spell at Feyenoord boss.
“The show turned into Marco van Basten listening with his mouth open for one hour to Arne Slot. Slot explained all his ideas, his tactics, how he would change the midfield, and how he would create an overload.
“Van Basten was absolutely mesmerized. After the show, he said that it was the best football talker he’d spoken to for many, many years.”
(Image: Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
This season, Slot could be named Premier League Manager of the Season having beaten Mikel Arteta and Arsenal to the title with four games to spare. And next year, he will be hoping to go further in the Champions League too.
Having replaced a legend in Jurgen Klopp, though, things could not have gone much better. Had Liverpool not been unfortunate enough to draw PSG in the last-16 in Europe, it would almost certainly have progressed further in the knockout phase.
“Slot is, in a way, a genius of exploiting the gaps, the space at the opposition by putting his key players in all kinds of different little formations,” Van der Kraan continued.
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“It often looks the same formation, but Liverpool are never the same formation. Every game he will adjust small details. It’s like a scientist in football.”
Liverpool.com says: Slot has done a remarkable job and this summer, a full pre-season without a major tournament will allow him to further bed in his ideas. Virgil van Dijk is among those looking forward to getting to spend some sustained time with him.
“I think it has to be a big summer and I trust the club and the people who make the decisions to do the right thing,” Van Dijk told reporters last weekend. “As champions, it is a very difficult task to remain champions, but I feel with additions we can make that step up.
“We can have a proper pre-season, we can work on the things the manager wants us to do in ball possession and without ball possession, a lot of hard work will be done. It’s something to look forward to, it’s very exciting and it’s an exciting time to be associated with Liverpool. Let’s see what happens but I fully trust the decision-makers to do the right things.”
