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Who is Arne Slot, the Man Who Has Liverpool Aiming for Premiere League Titles Again?

Since replacing Jürgen Klopp, the Dutchman has the Reds soaring.

By Andrew Woodin
Arne Slot points and yells during a match between PSV and Liverpool.

When Liverpool's stalwart manager Jürgen Klopp confirmed the 2024-25 season would be his last patrolling the sidelines at Anfield, the uncertainty surrounding who would replace the perpetually animated German boss sent Reds fans and pundits alike into a dizzying tail spin. After all, Klopp’s nine-year tenure (2015-2024), punctuated by Liverpool's first top-flight domestic league title in 30 years in 2020, meant that he wasn’t just a familiar face, he had fused his very identity into the club’s DNA.

But even though all things must come to an end, a change in Liverpool's boss didn't have to mean a departure from their recent run as title challengers, and boy, has Arne Slot proven that to be true. Channeling an even-keeled temperament, one that’s categorically different from his bombastic predecessor, as well as a far less manic style of play, Liverpool’s new chef de pitch hasn’t missed a beat.

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Who did Arne Slot play for?

Born September 17, 1978, Arend Martijn “Arne” Slot began his career with Netherlands-based FC Zwolle (1995-2002), serving predominantly as a goal-scoring midfielder, where he helped propel the club to winning the Eerste Divisie (Netherlands' second tier) to return to the country’s top flight Eredivisie after a 13-year lapse. Despite early promise, a serious of injuries prevented his physical skill from ever really matching his evolving mental acumen on the pitch and, after bouncing from NAC Breda (2002-2007) to Sparta Rotterdam (2007-2010), Slot transitioned back to FC Zwolle on a loan deal. While back in familiar territory, he helped lift his former squad back to the elite Eredivisie in 2012. Through 462 career matches in 18 years, he notched 100 goals.

According to comments made by his former teammate Edwin de Graaf in The Atlantic, though Slot was “not so fast,” the Dutchman was known to be highly tactical and detail-oriented in his approach to the game, with others like his former teammate Bram van Polen sensing during Slot’s final spell with FC Zwolle that his ascension into coaching was already taking shape.    

"Arne was constantly busy with guys in the team in training, then already clearly a trainer in the making," van Polen told NOS Football in 2022.

Arne Slot raises his arms during a Feyenoord v Sparta Rotterdam game.

Who has Arne Slot managed?

After first cutting his teeth as a youth coach for PEC Zwolle, Arne Slot transitioned into assisting coach Henk de Jong at the Dutch club Cambuur where he remained even after De Jong’s departure in 2016. Though the sting of relegation reverberated throughout the club that year, Slot survived being ousted and became the interim manager alongside Spike Hulshoff. The Dutch duo tasted success in 2017, only narrowly missing out on promotion to the Eredivisie during the playoffs. A win over Ajax helped trigger his leap to AZ in 2017 where he continued his rise, placing in the top four in the next two years. Strong showings in the UEFA Europa League and a win over Napoli confirmed that Slot had the potential for bigger and better things and, while at AZ, he steered the club to an average 2.11 points per game – the highest in club history.

Following up his historic success at AZ, Slot jumped to Feyenoord, succeeding the renowned Dirk Nicolaas “Dick” Advocaat. Joining Slot’s staff would be none other than Robin van Persie, who to this day is regarded as one of the best strikers in Premier League history. In Slot's first season, Feyenoord reached the final of the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2022, garnering Slot favor as a respected tactician. He may have lost that final to Roma, but Slot took home the coveted prize of the Rinus Michels Award for the Eredivisie manager of the year – an award he won again in 2023 after guiding Feeyenord to its first league title since 2017.

It was only a matter of time before his number was called to join the ranks of the Premier League and, after coaching Feyenoord to a 4-0 victory over rivals Excelsior Rotterdam in his last match on May 19, 2024, he did just that.    

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Welcome to Anfield

In April of 2024, talkSPORT reported that Feeyenord and the brass at Anfield had reached an €11 million agreement bring the Dutchman to Merseyside to replace Jurgen Klopp as the 22nd manager of Liverpool – a move that was all but telegraphed by Slot, who’s been eager to join the club for quite some time.

"It seems clear to me that I would like to work there," Slot emphatically stated to the outlet. “All I can say about it is that the clubs are in negotiations. I’m in the waiting room."

Taking his staff with him, Slot swept into Anfield and never looked back. As different as Slot and Klopp appear on paper, the transition has been nothing short of extraordinary. Talisman Mohamed Salah leads the Premier League in goals and is well on his way to perhaps clinching his fourth Golden Boot. The Reds’ titan in the back Virgil van Dijk has been in peak form while Trent Alexander-Arnold’s move to the outside flank continues to pay dividends. What’s more, Harvey Elliott, Cody Gakpo, Ibrahima Konaté and Alexis Mac Allister are all playing inspired football – a clear indicator that the players have not only bought in to Slot’s tactical pass-oriented style, they trust the Dutchman implicitly. The cherry on top? Slot’s convinced Darwin Núñez, who recently scored a brace against Brentford, that he can be equally effective coming off the bench – a move few ever saw working out.

"I think it’s the desire and the fire to fight for trophies this year," Mac Allister detailed to Liverpool's official website. "Of course it's never easy to be on the bench, but the coach tries to make clear that everyone is really important for the team, and everyone has to contribute, even from the bench. So, really happy for that and everyone can see that we have a really good team."

Though Slot's squad attempts fewer shots per match, down to 15.2 from 20.6 last season, per Opta, his emphasis on possession through the back while urging patience has befuddled opponents from the start. Flashy attacks have been tempered a bit, but his type of a conservative approach, one Slot admits he developed after being influenced by former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi, means more control for the Reds, allowing them to frustrate the opposition by eradicating passing lanes. One might postulate that that would irritate his own attackers, but even Salah is a full believer.

“I think we play kind of different football now,” said Salah in December, regarding Slot’s impact. “The manager [Slot] now wants to control the ball all the time. With Jürgen [Klopp], sometimes it’s just go counter press and just try to attack them in their half. But here, we need to control the game. Sometimes we slow the game down, but it’s part of the plan and, yeah, that’s the big difference.”

With the good fortune and wind at his sails, Slot has the Reds sitting atop not only the Premiere League table, but the Champions League as well, with Liverpool squarely in contention for four trophies.

"What gives me the most confidence for the coming weeks and months is that until now, we haven’t stolen one point,” Slot told The Guardian. “All the points we got were fully deserved and I think even in some moments we deserved more than we got. That is the best forecast you can have for the second half of the season.”

“I’m very happy with the team, and I think they deserve that trust from the club and from me if you look at the performances over the last half a season.”

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