What a job Arne Slot has done at Liverpool. As the end of 2024 approaches, the Dutchman could hardly have made a better start to life on Merseyside.
What looked like the impossible job following Jurgen Klopp’s departure has been made to look a lot easier by Slot, who has led his side to the top of the Premier League and the Champions League’s opening phase, as well as the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
Here is what some of the managers Liverpool have come up against this season have had to say on Slot’s impact, with some of the biggest names around in agreement.
Pep Guardiola
Guardiola had no answer to Slot’s side when Manchester City visited Anfield at the start of December, with Liverpool cruising to a 2-0 win over the defending champions. Even before then though, Slot was causing the former Barcelona boss to change his methods.
“When I play a new club in the Champions League that I don’t know, I see much more than playing against Arsenal, for example,” Guardiola said back in September.
“Of course I want to watch Arsenal a lot, but Mikel has been there four or five years. And before with Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool. Now I have to watch more Liverpool because of Arne: I don’t know exactly what they do. But with Jurgen, we knew each other better.
“When I was younger, I watched much, much more than now. Now I’m lazier. I think I watch well enough to understand what the opponents want to do. I try to choose the right footage to show my players, to convince them of what to do to try and beat them.”
Speaking about Slot’s impact ahead just days before the game at Anfield, Guardiola was in little doubt about the Liverpool boss’ impact: “He did very well and his results at Liverpool have shown that. He’s proved the quality that he has.”
Mikel Arteta
The Arsenal boss has the proud boast of being just one of only four managers to take points off Liverpool this season, with his side drawing 2-2 at the Emirates.
“Arne’s a really good manager,” Arteta said before the game. “He’s inherited a team that is successful and given it his touch to maintain and evolve in the direction he believes is the right way to do it.
“For me, they are one of the best teams in the last decade and certainly the history of this Premier League, because they competed against a team (Manchester City) that was creating record after record and they were consistently there.
“That shows a lot of relentless and winning mentality to consistently believe, even if some people feel you could not reach it.
“That’s a big credit to them and they have done the work with a clear identity, so that’s something remarkable in my opinion.”
Carlo Ancelotti
Even European kings Real Madrid could live with Liverpool when they visited Anfield in November, with Ancelotti’s side falling to a 2-0 defeat. There was little doubt in the Italian’s mind about the result either as he paid Slot and his team the biggest compliment.
“It was a difficult match, as we knew, it was the most difficult stadium in Europe,” Ancelotti said. “I liked the team, we competed well against the most difficult rival in Europe and they deserved to win.”
Kieran McKenna
McKenna handed Slot his first competitive test as Liverpool boss, and his Ipswich side gave the Reds a run for their money before eventually falling to a 2-0 defeat on the opening day.
“Liverpool, the quality of the execution of the two goals, the first goal especially,” McKenna said. “We did not do that many things wrong but we were one or two yards off on our pressure in a couple of different positions and that’s how ruthless it can be.
“They’ve [the supporters] seen the level of one of the best teams in the league and we’ll all learn from it as a club and we’ll go again.”
