The Dutchman has done an excellent job at Feyenoord, but his arrival at Anfield has underwhelmed pundits and supporters
Finding a replacement for Jurgen Klopp that would excite Liverpool fans anywhere near as much as the incredibly charismatic German was always going to be tough. From the moment Xabi Alonso ruled himself out of the running, though, it became impossible.
The Spaniard was an Anfield icon during his illustrious playing career. Now even Klopp considers him the outstanding young coach of his generation because of the sensational job he's doing at Bayer Leverkusen. So, anybody other than Alonso was going to feel like a little bit of a letdown. However, the sense of deflation surrounding Arne Slot's arrival from Feyenoord has still been staggering, no matter how much Klopp has tried to change that with his show of support from the Anfield halfway-line as he himself bowed out.
It's not just that Liverpool fans and followers are underwhelmed; they're also confused. Former forward John Aldridge didn't even think that the Dutchman was in the running. Worse still, Robbie Fowler was so unfamiliar with Slot and his achievements that he had to Google him – and was horrified to learn that his team weren't even top of the Eredivisie.
Jamie Carragher, meanwhile, felt that the appointment proved there is a "dearth of real top managers out there" at the moment, which only made him lament the loss of Klopp even more.
"If Jurgen was in charge next season, Liverpool would move forward and challenge again at home and in Europe," the ex-Reds defender wrote in . "With Slot, that absolute belief will give way to hope." And even fear among some supporters, who are already scared stiff that Liverpool are bringing in their very own Erik ten Hag.
Getty ImagesUnjust comparisons
The comparisons with Ten Hag were inevitable, but also unfair. Indeed, it feels like much of the scepticism around Slot is rooted in the fact that he is also Dutch, and also bald. For those reasons alone, he is seemingly destined to struggle as much on Merseyside as Ten Hag is in Manchester.
It's a ludicrously reductive argument, of course. There are unquestionably parallels between their respective coaching careers and both were shaped by their nation's rich footballing heritage, including the 'Total Football' of the 1970s played by Netherlands and Ajax, with whom Ten Hag won three Eredivisie titles before moving to Old Trafford in 2022.
"Arne was influenced by Johan Cruyff's philosophy and loves to set his teams up on the front foot," former Dutch international Johnny Rep explained.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesGuardiola links
There's also a Pep Guardiola connection. Ten Hag worked at Bayern Munich during the Catalan's spell in charge at the Allianz Arena and was nicknamed 'Mini-Pep' because of his similar style of play with the Bavarians' B team between 2013 and 2015.
Slot, meanwhile, has never hidden his admiration for Guardiola, whom he previously described in an interview with as "a control freak just like me". He's also admitted that watching Manchester City is "the ultimate joy in football" and that his Feyenoord side is loosely modelled on the Premier League champions.
"It is not my intention to compare us with them," Slot said, "[but they] have a similar style of play to how we want to play with Feyenoord: 4-3-3, building up from the back, wanting to apply pressure quickly."
Getty'Own vision'
However, while it's clear that Slot has been greatly influenced by the Cruyff-ian principles of play that Guardiola learned as a player at Camp Nou and has arguably since taken to a whole other level as coach, it's not as if he isn't married to one approach.
"He's always studying other teams and thinking about how his team can improve and evolve," former Feyenoord and Liverpool attacker Dirk Kuyt told . "Tactically, he’s very strong. What people like most in Holland, where his reputation is so high, is that he has his own vision, his style of play…
"What struck me about Arne was his ability to make the players believe in what he believes in. I talked to some of them when I was there and they all spoke so highly about him. They love how he organises the training sessions and how he gets his ideas across. Watching Feyenoord in recent years, you can see his signature on the team in how he wants football to be played. He gets the best out of people…
"The news that Liverpool had decided to go for Slot came out of the blue. I was surprised because since Jurgen said he would be leaving at the end of the season, other names had been mentioned as possible contenders. But it makes a lot of sense."
(C)Getty ImagesBest coach in the Netherlands
Certainly, nobody who has followed Slot's coaching career is in any doubt Anfield will enjoy the offensive brand of football he has successfully implemented at not only Feyenoord, but also AZ Alkmaar on shoe-string budgets. Indeed, it's worth noting that before Covid-19 curtailed the 2020-21 Eredivisie season, Slot's AZ were level on points with Ten Hag's Ajax at the top of the table.
Furthermore, when the latter won the title again in 2022, it was Slot who won the Rinus Michels Award for coach of the season having led Feyenoord to a surprise third-placed finish at the end of his first campaign in Rotterdam.
He claimed the prestigious prize again after masterminding a stunning league win the following year. It was Feyenoord's 16th title triumph, but one of their most surprising, given they had nothing like the same resources or strength in depth as traditional rivals Ajax and PSV, and had been forced to cash in on several key players before the season had even begun.