Arne Slot has shown his true self to Liverpool supporters and has quickly won them over
It may not have been the most original of puns, but the message was unequivocal. And it underlined how Arne Slot has managed to address one potential pitfall far quicker than anybody would have anticipated.
A flag in the Kop waved proudly before the Champions League victory over Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday evening emblazoned with the smiling face of the Dutchman along with a message saluting “Arne’s Slot Machine”.
That Slot has made a record start in his position as Liverpool head coach – not even Jose Mourinho at Chelsea in 2004/04 or Pep Guardiola at Manchester City in 2015/16 could better his total of 14 wins from 16 games in all competitions – has obviously gone a long way to winning over supporters.
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But where Reds fans have truly been impressed is the manner in which the new man has taken to the front-facing side of the job – dealing with the media and, by association, communicating with the fanbase.
From the very beginning, Slot has, as is so often the Dutch way, had no issue saying things as he sees them. Certainly, there appears no edge, no hidden agenda to the Liverpool boss.
In recent weeks, though, there have been signs he is becoming more comfortable with his surrounds, no doubt helped by the ongoing success on the field but also being more relaxed in front of what are more familiar faces in the media. Everyone is starting to see the real Arne Slot.
Witness his knockabout conversation with Jamie Carragher after Tuesday’s win, Slot exchanging barbs and cracking jokes with the Liverpool legend.
And with all of that, so any yearning for Jurgen Klopp from the fanbase has effectively been extinguished. Barely five months after first being appointed, Slot has decisively taken on the mantle. The players may essentially be the same as under his predecessor, but this is now very much his Liverpool.
In terms of charisma and box office, Klopp was always going to be an impossible act to follow. And in some ways that has helped Slot given the expectation was very much tempered by the impact of the man who had gone before. Slot has been given the freedom to be his own man and, innately, understands the remit he has been handed.
It was the same at previous club Feyenoord, where the affection in which he was held by the fanbase wasn’t entirely reliant on the silverware he accrued.
Liverpool fans aren’t fools. They cannot be hoodwinked, and they can smell falsehoods a mile off. And they have been fortunate enough over the years to be able to determine the difference between good football and something somewhat less appetising.
In base terms, Slot “gets it” in the way, in a different fashion, Klopp did. Brendan Rodgers tried hard to grasp it, Rafael Benitez stumbled upon it while Roy Hodgson really didn’t understand it at all. All five, though, were simply being true to themselves and their own character. Not every person can be the ideal fit.
Positive results have given Slot scope to show appreciation for the quality of his squad and the power of Anfield while refusing to become carried away. And when when suffering a rare setback, the head coach refused to sugar-coat his thus far sole defeat at home to Nottingham Forest in September.
“If you lose a home game, that’s always a setback, especially if you face a team – you never know, maybe they will go all the way to fight for the Champions League places – that normally isn’t ending up in the top 10,” he said. “So if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment.”
Of course, there will be greater examination of Slot when Liverpool inevitably hit a bump in the road this season. But there has been nothing to suggest he will be anything other than matter-of-fact as always.
While there was an inevitable hangover at the AXA Training Centre once Klopp departed after almost nine years in charge, it didn’t take long for Slot – and his coaching staff – to lift the gloom. The Dutchman has already become well liked among the staff at Kirkby.
And that feeling is being replicated in the stands. Slot’s machine keeps coming up with winners on and off the field at present.
