Arne Slot joined Liverpool in the summer to take over from Jurgen Klopp. A very demanding and almost impossible act to follow, but so far it looks well in place, despite the recent setback being defeated 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest.
After three good wins, to see Liverpool coming of the Anfield pitch without anything from a game vs. Forest, shows that everything is not in the best place as such a slip up should in real not happen.
Liverpool will this season also be seen in Champions League action, playing AC Milan on Tuesday, as a new test will be around the corner for Arne Slot. This is not the easiest away games to start with in this competition, but it will surely be a game on everyone’s lips. A new slip up vs. AC Milan will of course see questions asked, but we feel that this is one of the good appointments made by the Liverpool board.
Arne Slot coming in for Jurgen Klopp is a bit similar, but not a carbon coby from the days when Bob Paisley took over the manager job from Bill Shankly, 50 years ago, in the summer of 1974. Bob Paisley was pushed up from his assisting role and had a long life at Anfield behind him as a player and coach.
In the summer of 1974, Bill Shankly had negotiated the deal to bring Ray Kennedy to Liverpool from Arsenal and he also led the team out on Wembley in the Charity Shield game vs. Leeds. Later on in the 1974/5 season, Phil Neal and Terry McDermott were added to the squad, two master moves created by Bob Paisley.
Paisley patiently put his own stamp on the team and squad by these additions as well as bringing Jimmy Case into the first team frame, as he guided Liverpool to a 2nd place in the league, but stumbled in the cup competitions, to come back stronger in the 1975/76 season, bringing home the league trophy, as well as winning the UEFA Cup.
Arne Slot had three wins out of three in the league, before the Forest game, and his transfer activity in the summer was close to zero, before adding Federico Chiesa and Giorgi Mamardashvili to the unit. The Georgia goalkeeper Mamardashvili will not join the club before next season, as the move for Chiesa looks a bit odd, as the alternatives are many up front for Liverpool. Chiesa can operate on the flank as well as being to loan striker, so not totally a troubled move, but one that do not really looks a 100% fit.
Arne Slot was a midfielder in his days and a player in Dutch league football, being in and around the greater names of his era, but still a quality player at a good level, a bit like Jurgen Klopp, having a similar playing background from almost the same level in German football.
During his last years as a player at PEC Zwolle, he was in his 30’s and said to have been acting as a coach allready. He moved into coaching early on, taking charge of the youth set up at PEC, and then becoming assistant to Henk de Jong at Cambuur. He was later given a chance as an interim alternative at Cambuur, becoming their full time manager in 2016, in a partnership with Sipke Hulshof. He joined AZ in 2017 as an assistant, later becoming their head coach, and in 2021 taking over at Feyenoord.
The move to Anfield was in real questioned, and the evil tongue would say he was not up to the job to follow Jurgen Klopp, but so far it looks as if the Liverpool board has done this correctly, even with the result vs. Forest and again hopefully pushing for a good result away to AC Milan.
Arne Slot was in August nominated for TMOTM award, but lost out to newly appointed Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler.
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