Former Liverpool goalkeeping coach John Achterberg has advised new manager Arne Slot to sell one Reds player this summer.
Achterberg was one of a number of staff departures at the end of last season after Jurgen Klopp announced he would be leaving the club.
The Dutchman, who spent 11 years in English football as a player for Tranmere Rovers between 1998 and 2009, actually preceded Klopp in arriving at Anfield upon the conclusion of his playing career.
Achterberg was appointed as Liverpool’s goalkeeping coach in 2011, meaning he spent time with three different managers – Klopp, Kenny Dalglish and Brendan Rodgers – during his time at the club.
He has therefore seen plenty of players come and go at Anfield – and now thinks that Slot should allow one first team player to leave this summer.
Speaking on The Football Historian Podcast, Achterberg spoke of his desire to see Caoimhin Kelleher get more first team opportunities at another club.
He explained: “I said to Kelleher like five years ago, when he not played too many games, ‘You know you’re better than De Gea, I tell you now. You’re a lot more technical, a lot better at kicking, your reactions are a lot better but you need to play to make it happen’.
“Hopefully he gets a move, because he deserves to be number one. You know if you have two goalies like that you probably have the best goalie squad Liverpool probably ever had in a number one and two position in the same time – it’s crazy.”
The number one that Achterberg refers to is, of course, Alisson, who has been Liverpool’s undisputed first choice since arriving from Roma in 2018.
But Kelleher has been hugely impressive in the few first team opportunities he has received in both cup and league competitions.
He played a two-month spell of games uninterrupted between February and April last season due to Alisson’s injury, where he again showed why he could become a first choice goalkeeper elsewhere.
If he stays at Liverpool, the Republic of Ireland international will need to continue to bide his time.
New Liverpool boss Arne Slot “almost took offence” when asked about abandoning a key part of Jurgen Klopp’s approach at Liverpool.
Slot has replaced Klopp as manager at Anfield, penning a three-year deal after arriving from Feyenoord.
He spoke to the media for the first time and has been putting the players through their paces in pre-season training before a tour of the United States.
The Dutchman has a tough task at hand given what Klopp achieved at Liverpool in eight-and-a-half years.
Slot has his own ideas and a clear style of play which has brought him an Eredivisie title and KNVB Cup.
And in his first press conference, Slot was quizzed on his preferred formation and whether he will veer away from the 4-3-3 which served Klopp so well on Merseyside.
But the 45-year-old’s response was a firm one, as he schooled the journalist on his system.
Liverpool reporter David Lynch discussed the moment in a video for his YouTube channel, commenting: “And he was asked ‘Is that what you’re going to use going forward? Are you going to abandon Klopp’s 4-3-3?’ and he was kind of taken aback really. [He] almost took offence to that question and suggested ‘if anyone watches my team closely, they wouldn’t think I played in a 4-3-2-1. We use different formations for build-up, we approach in a totally different way from game to game and from situation to situation’.
“He wants fluidity in his play. So he totally rejected the idea that he’s a 4-2-3-1 guy. He said ‘really, if anything my Feyenoord side was a 4-3-3’. So that, I really thought was interesting – that he was so firm in the way he responded to that question and really shot that down. I think that showed a steeliness and a man who knows his own mind.”
The drill involves running for six minutes around a 400 metre track and is done to obtain the players’ maximum aerobic speed.
Curtis Jones made a surprise comment about Jurgen Klopp’s tactics when asked what Arne Slot has changed at Liverpool.
Slot officially took over from Klopp last month, and has been spending pre-season so far working with a rather depleted squad.
Reds fans haven’t got to see their team in action under the new manager yet, as Liverpool’s only pre-season friendly so far has been the behind-closed-doors 1-0 defeat to Preston North End last week.
Jones has been one of a small core of players from last season that has been present at the AXA Training Centre this summer, with most of Slot’s key players away at Euro 2024 or the Copa America.
The midfielder was named in England’s provisional 33-man squad for Euro 2024, but missed out on the final selection.
That means he has had plenty of time to get used to his new manager’s system.
Speaking ahead of Liverpool’s friendly against Real Betis in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Friday evening, the Reds academy graduate was asked how Slot had changed things at Anfield – and he made a perhaps surprising reference to former manager Klopp.
He said: “The principles are the same, but I feel the centre mids will be more the heart of the team. In terms of our build up and how comfortable on the ball and stuff, and how calm we have to be, and play more as a team.
“We’re not in a rush to attack, we kind of just want to have the ball and break teams down and then if we give the ball away, then we can go and press.
“I feel more in the past a bit, it was kind of like a rush. We’d get the ball back and it was a little bit too direct, I’d say.
“It was up and down, up and down, to where now it’s going to be at the point where he wants us to have all the ball and just completely kill teams.”
Two Liverpool players are set to be axed by Arne Slot after being demoted during the club’s pre-season.
Liverpool began their pre-season with a shock defeat to Championship side Preston North End in a behind-closed-doors friendly last week.
And the Reds resume their pre-season with a tour of the United States as Slot’s side face Real Betis, Arsenal and Manchester United.
The senior squad will travel to America, with two players left behind with the under-21s, suggesting a move away from Anfield is on the cards.
That’s according to The Athletic, who claim centre-backs Rhys Williams and Billy Koumetio are expected to leave the club this summer.
The duo have found themselves training with the under-21s rather than Slot’s senior squad during pre-season.
Williams. 23, is attracting interest from Turkey while several League One clubs are also keeping tabs on his situation.
He played 19 games across all competitions in the 2020/21 season as Liverpool were hit with an injury crisis.
Koumetio, meanwhile, has played just two games for the club and is reportedly wanted by clubs from Scotland and France.
The Dutch boss has Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Jarrell Quansah, Sepp van der Berg, Nathaniel Phillips and Amara Nallo to call upon at centre-back as the futures of Williams and Koumetio seem to lie away from Merseyside.
And he believes competing against high-class opposition and completing more training sessions will benefit his team’s preparations ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
“I assume this, but the resistance of the teams we play is strong,” he said.
“We are trying to implement the ideas and keep doing what we have done so well. Keeping the boys fit, that’s the first aim.
“Those things are the first aim and then with all the players coming back I think the quality will definitely go up a lot as well and these two things – training sessions and boys coming back in – will help us to play even better than we did [on Friday].”
A former Liverpool star has revealed what Mo Salah thinks of new boss Arne Slot after just a brief period working with him.
Until now, Salah has spent the entirety of his Liverpool career working under Jurgen Klopp, winning one Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup and cementing himself as one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League.
His skillset was perfect for Klopp’s style of play and now there’s intrigue to see how the the 32-year-old fares under Slot, who has replaced Klopp at the helm.
With no international football tournament commitments, Salah returned to pre-season in incredible shape and smashed the 6-Minute Race Test (6MRT) – with his performance in the test hailed as “phenomenal” by fitness coach Conall Murtagh.
Slot has his own way of doing things but according to ex Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian, he will keep a lot of the same elements in terms of the style of play.
The Spaniard, who has left for Real Betis, is still in contact with Salah and other teammates and they have been enjoying working with Slot.
“I speak almost every day with many of the squad — Kostas Tsimikas, Mo Salah,” he told The Athletic.
“They tell me they like it, the ideology is the same as with Jurgen. To be intense, direct, play with pace, press high, be brave. Liverpool’s squad is made for that. So the new coach will know how to adapt well to the players he has. And I wish him the best.”
