Liverpool said goodbye to iconic manager Jurgen Klopp at the end of last season and are now at the start of a new era under Arne Slot, but it’s so far so good at Anfield.
Klopp was at the helm for Liverpool for almost a decade and in that time won pretty much every trophy available to him, including the Reds’ sixth European Cup and a first league title in 30 years.
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They’re big shoes to fill but Slot is yet to put a foot wrong, winning all of his first three Premier League games without conceding a single goal, and becoming the only Liverpool boss to win their first trip to Old Trafford since George Kay in 1936.
Liverpool have looked impressive under Slot, with players like Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz firing on all cylinders, and now legendary Liverpool winger John Barnes has given his thoughts on the Dutchman’s start to life in Merseyside.
Barnes was full of praise for Slot’s start to his Liverpool career and was quick to compare the transition from Klopp to Slot to the departures of some other legendary Premier League managers – most notably Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Arsene Wenger at Arsenal and Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.
“We’ve seen when Fergie left, we’ve seen when Wenger left, we’ve seen when Mourinho left big clubs. Why the players don’t do as well is because the players relax because the big man’s gone, whereas Liverpool players haven’t done that,” Barnes told The Rest Is Football on YouTube.
There is obviously the caveat that we are only three games into the season. Liverpool have only faced newly-promoted Ipswich Town, Brentford, who finished 16th in the league last year, and a Manchester United side that are coming off the back of their worst ever Premier League finish.
Despite it being so early in the season, Barnes doesn’t think that Liverpool’s start is a coincidence.
“The characters that Jurgen Klopp signed were good enough characters to know that ‘OK, you’re not here any more, but we have to respect the club, the traditions, the fans and the new manager’,” the former Reds star said.
Liverpool look good under Slot and Barnes thinks this good form will continue, but how does Liverpool’s transition compare to when other teams lost their legendary managers?
After Ferguson left Manchester United, he was replaced by David Moyes, who only lasted 10 months at Old Trafford before he was sacked. Moyes took four points from his first three games in charge and United finished seventh in the league that season, although they finished the season with Ryan Giggs as caretaker manager.
When Wenger left Arsenal, Unai Emery replaced him. The Spaniard lasted less than two seasons at the Emirates, finished fifth in his inaugural season and only took three points from his first three games as Arsenal manager.
It is clear to see from these records why Barnes is so impressed by Slot’s start at Liverpool. It highlights just how good a job the Dutchman has done.
It’s important to note that Slot has inherited a very strong squad from Klopp, a luxury that Emery didn’t have at Arsenal, but Moyes took over a Manchester United side who had just won the league by 11 points.
It is probably too early to say that Slot will definitely go on to have a better time at Liverpool than either Moyes or Emery did when replacing a legendary manager, but the former Feyenoord boss couldn’t have had a better start.
Now, Slot must remain focused and take care not to let complacency grow in his Liverpool team, before they host Nottingham Forest at Anfield in their next game on 14 September.
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