Jurgen Klopp’s announcement that he was going to leave Liverpool was a shock. In some ways.
Before the German’s final season at Anfield, veteran Klopp-watchers were speculating about how long he would last. The previous campaign had not gone well. The team finished fifth.
Age had hit them hard, particularly in midfield. It had also hit Klopp, who is ranked at no.29 in FourFourTwo’s list of the greatest managers ever. He looked a shadow of his former self; a husk of the bouncy, smiling, up-for-a-fight leader that the red part of Merseyside fell in love with.
“This might go to s**t. Klopp will be sacked or resign by November”
In the summer of 2023, someone close to the club told me, “This might go to s**t. Klopp will be sacked or resign by November – that’s my fear.” Those worries had dissipated by late January. Liverpool were in the League Cup final, five points clear in the Premier League and favourites to win the Europa League.
As it turned out, the source was right. In November 2023, Klopp told the owners, FSG, that he intended to leave the following summer. At that point, the name Arne Slot meant little to the majority of the fanbase.
The months after Klopp’s bombshell were a blur. The 1-0 win over Chelsea in the League Cup final was joyously uplifting. Who, other than Klopp, could have dragged an injury-ridden side to victory in extra time, despite needing three teenage substitutes?
For all of the euphoria, however, Wembley felt a little like a last stand. By that point, Manchester City had cruised into first place in the Premier League and Liverpool were running out of steam.
When replacements were being discussed, the only name on anyone’s lips – including FSG’s – was Xabi Alonso, formerly a hero on the Kop. The Bayer Leverkusen coach’s reputation was growing with every game.
His storming start to a managerial career made him the first choice for any big club looking for their next messiah, let alone a club where he had spent five years as a player and won the Champions League. Meanwhile, Slot was going about his business with Feyenoord.
If Alonso had indicated that he wanted the Anfield job, Slot might still be in Rotterdam. The Basque was never really interested, though. There were too many questions around Liverpool. The old football cliché says, ‘Be the man after the man who replaces the icon’.
One of the big problems in the second half of Klopp’s tenure was that FSG’s executive structure fell apart. Michael Edwards and Julian Ward, successive sporting directors, left because they struggled to work with the manager.
Everyone involved came to the same conclusion. Liverpool did not need another charismatic manager with near-total control. No, the new man would be a head coach with limited input on recruitment and policy.
All of the power became centred on Klopp. The added pressure did not help the German’s state of mind. He won the battles but ultimately lost the war.
Almost immediately after Klopp’s announcement, Edwards and Ward returned in more senior roles within the FSG hierarchy, with Richard Hughes – formerly of Bournemouth – appointed as sporting director. Everyone involved came to the same conclusion. Liverpool did not need another charismatic manager with near-total control. No, the new man would be a head coach with limited input on recruitment and policy.
Ruben Amorim, Roberto De Zerbi, Julian Nagelsmann, Michel, Andoni Iraola and Eddie Howe were considered but dismissed. Liverpool’s analytics specialists assessed potential Klopp replacements and Slot outscored them all on the metrics.
Contact was made with the Dutchman in April. He was named head coach in May.
It was not the most glamorous appointment. Alonso aside, there was no standout candidate. The reaction from the fanbase was relatively neutral. ‘Let’s get behind the new lad’ was the prevailing view, but no supporters were popping champagne corks.
There was plenty for Slot to consider, too. He was bequeathed a team that had its backbone entering the final year of their contracts.
The situations with Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold were ticking time bombs that no head coach needed to inherit. Yet once the Liverpool job is offered, it’s difficult to turn down. It’s unlikely to happen again. You have to take it. And so he backed himself.
His low-key approach was in his favour. Klopp was always emotional and much more confrontational than it appeared to outsiders. Yes, the players loved him – but not all of the time.
Many managers have a ‘no d**kheads’ policy; it doesn’t always apply to themselves. In the painful 2022-23 campaign, the on-pitch hugs between Klopp and his players turned into passive-aggressive shoulder bumps. Discord was in the air.
Slot is a different character. It doesn’t mean he can’t be tough. But he is less volatile. Life at Anfield is less erratic now.
His approach to the game is different, too. The 46-year-old changed the focus of Liverpool’s forward motion from the full-backs to the midfield, which is something Klopp had been working on.
Many managers have a ‘no d**kheads’ policy; it doesn’t always apply to themselves
The big fear among supporters was that the team would get off to a poor start and the pressure would pile on the new coach. The opposite happened.
The midfield had been restocked before Slot’s arrival with players who suited the Dutchman’s style. Added to that, the likes of Curtis Jones found themselves enjoying life with the ball at their feet, having toiled in the central areas under Klopp, when midfielders were required to press and screen the defence but creativity was low on the list of duties.
Allowing Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold to reach the start of 2025 without resolving their contract status was a significant error by FSG. There are no excuses.
All three should have been locked down before Klopp told the owners of his intention to leave. After that, there was no need to wait for a new boss – what manager or head coach wouldn’t want the trio?
It’s understandable that the players would hedge their bets, wanting to know what the next manager would be like. Slot wasted no time in answering that question.
The head coach has done as much as he can to make Anfield an attractive proposition to players. He led the team to the top of the Premier League and Champions League by the time they could negotiate with foreign clubs on January 1.
Anyone who wants to leave will be left with no excuse. Liverpool have been Europe’s form side. The future is bright. No one can blame Slot.
The suspicion is that FSG didn’t expect things to go quite so well. They foresawa rebuilding period and were willing to drop a couple of heavyweight salaries and reinvest the money into new faces. Slot’s success put them in a quandary.
Anyone who wants to leave will be left with no excuse. Liverpool have been Europe’s form side. The future is bright. No one can blame Slot.
Slot has not courted the Kop. This is a growing love affair based on results, not personality. It must be remembered that Klopp never tried to connect with the city – it came naturally. He went as far as telling me that if he’d known what was expected of a Liverpool manager in terms of being an advocate for the city, he might have turned the job down.
That’s coming at the role from a Bill Shankly perspective: leadership through rabble-rousing. There’s another way.
Shankly was replaced by Bob Paisley, a downbeat personality of rare genius. Slot is much more effervescent but, like Paisley, he lets his work do the talking. The adoration of fans will come.
The Slot effect has been a pleasant surprise for Kopites. The most shocking thing about the past year? Nobody is yearning for Klopp.
Nobody expected that. It’s a real testament to Arne Slot’s brilliant start.
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