Friday 5th July about lunchtime it was Arne Slot v Kier Starmer. Both representing a Red Team. The former was the new Head Coach of Liverpool FC and the latter was the newly elected Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Both were about to speak to the public. There was always only going to be one winner for me and that was Slot. Here are some of my biggest takeaways.
Slot's title at the club
To date Liverpool have always hired a ‘Manager’ who coaches the team and decides on tactics within games.
Slot is the first ‘Head Coach’ of Liverpool FC. The role will largely remain the same in that he will coach the team and devise tactics, carry out team talks and do press conferences.
Slot is more than happy with the title given for his role as he revealed that he has always worked in this way in his previous roles.
He advised that he is looking forward to working collaboratively with different departments such as Scouting and Data Analytics. He went on to say that many people have a say on transfer targets and he is looking forward to working with those people.
Youth talent will not be forgotten
Slot was quizzed about the positive impact that the youngsters from the Academy had last year on the team.
Players such as Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley played a pivotal part in the Reds season last year especially in the Carabao Cup.
Slot affirmed that they will have a part to play. He stated “I like to see young players come through, It is not about how young you are it is about how good you are!”. It looks like the youth in the squad will still have plenty of chances under Arne.
Playing Style/Philosophy
Alongside Slot was Richard Hughes, the new Sporting Director at Liverpool. He was asked about the playing style that Slot has employed at his previous clubs.
Hughes confirmed that the reason why Liverpool approached Slot was because of his front foot playing style.
In addition to the use of metrics, Hughes felt that Slot was an ideal match for Liverpool and would provide the style of football Liverpool fans have become accustomed to over the years.
It would be unreasonable to expect ‘Heavy Metal’ football but the fans can expect something similar or close.
Slot also confirmed that one of the main reasons for him to take the job was because he was told that Liverpool liked his style of play. Slot also stated that he felt the fans would appreciate his style of play and philosophy.
He went on to say that it should be a two way thing where the team and fans feed off each other.
Formation
As soon as Slot was announced unofficially fans started to do their investigations as to how Slot teams line up.. Analysis’ were done how Feyenoord are set up and play football.
The consensus within the fanbase was that Slot lines up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. When asked about this Slot laughed it off and asked “Who said that? Maybe they need to analyse a bit better or get coaching badges”.
Slot stated that he uses many formations and they can differ between having the ball and not having the ball. He alluded that his view of formation is more 4-3-3 but can also go to 4-1-4-1.
I personally got a distinct feeling of Rafa Benitez here as he used a number of formations during a game depending on the current scenario of the game.
Slot will be joined by most of his Feyenoord staff
Slot confirmed that most of his staff from Feyenoord would join him in the Liverpool dugout next season.
They were present at the press conference and took training for some of the players that had started their 1st day back for the new season.
Hughes and Slot also confirmed that there are still 2 more positions to be filled for the backroom staff but didn’t elaborate on which positions they would be.
Final Verdict
I found Slot to come across as very pragmatic and grounded. There was no showmanship or bluster. He was very calm and answered questions thoroughly.
He is still similar to Klopp in his first presser still finding his English vocabulary which is quite normal for a foreigner moving to England for the first time.
I am looking forward to the front foot football style and the aggression when Liverpool don’t have the ball.