I've just heard Arne Slot say something that shows he's perfect for Liverpool

Arne Slot Head Coach of Liverpool during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD2 training and press conference at Anfield on October 01, 2024
-Credit: (Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Image)


When Arne Slot was announced as Jurgen Klopp’s successor earlier this year, there was an acceptance that it would be impossible for the Dutchman to emulate the charismatic German in front of the cameras. In his four months in the Reds hotseat, he's not exactly had too many memorable quotes.

Instead, Slot has mainly done his talking on the pitch. And emphatically so, winning seven of his eight matches in charge to date with Liverpool sitting top of the Premier League table, in the Champions League top eight and through to the League Cup fourth round as a result.

But that isn’t enough for the Reds head coach. A narrow 2-1 victory away at Wolves on Saturday might have sent Liverpool top, but the Dutchman was left unsatisfied with his team’s performance.

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And he explained why he was so irked when facing the media ahead of the Reds’ Champions League visit of Bologna to Anfield.

“We as a team, if you have that much quality, you cannot accept mediocrity,” he declared. “You have to ask from yourself every second of the day, every second of the game, the highest standards that this shirt brings.

“The positive thing about this group is I don’t accept mediocrity but these players themselves don’t accept it as well. Even after the game, I saw one or two players, maybe a few more even, that were also frustrated. Not only about the last 15 minutes but also about the way we started the game.

“That was also not up to the standards of what I am expecting from a Liverpool team or from these players. It’s not only about me, it’s also about the players that they don’t accept these moments as well.

“We as a staff have to set those standards very clearly. Those 15 minutes where we lost the ball in so many times in promising positions or moments that could lead to promising positions is maybe not acceptable.”

Throw a little more emotion behind such words and it could easily be Klopp talking. Instead, Slot remains the coolest of customers, also sharing, he rarely loses his temper with his players, who is making the toughest task in football in succeeding the German look easy.

It is not just his players who Slot is expecting more from though, it is the club’s supporters too. The Anfield atmosphere has been a growing talking point so far this season, with Reds legend Jamie Carragher admitting it ‘hasn’t been great’ so far this campaign.

Anfield is famed for its European nights and Slot will sample such an experience for the first time on Wednesday when his side host Bologna as Liverpool host Champions League football for the first time in 20 months.

Yet the Reds have been starved of a famous Anfield European night for much longer than that.

Klopp’s last European match at home ended in a shock 3-0 defeat to Atalanta last April. His last Champions League match at Anfield saw his then-broken side surrender a 2-0 lead to be thrashing 5-2 by Real Madrid.

In 2021/22 when marching to the Champions League final, Anfield witnessed a 2-0 semi-final first leg win over Villarreal, and a second leg 3-3 draw with Benfica and 1-0 loss to Inter Milan with their work already satisfactorily done in the quarter-finals and round-of-16 in Portugal and Italy.

Consider a campaign behind closed doors and the shell-shocking 3-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid in March 2020, and you have to go back to Liverpool’s most famous European night of all - the 4-0 thrashing of Barcelona in May 2019 - for when Anfield last truly delivered on its trademark reputation.

But perhaps this is something the shrewd Slot is well-aware of as he subtly challenged supporters to rise to the occasion as Champions League football returns to Anfield.

“People tell me it (European nights) are going to be even more special over here (at Anfield) tomorrow (compared to at Feyenoord),” he said. “So what I expect from our players, they missed out on Champions League for a year, when they step out on the pitch tomorrow, I want to see this.

“I want to feel this, like, ‘Ah, we missed this for a season.’ Now, a club of this standard, we have to be ready.

“I’m hoping and expecting the same from our fans. I am hoping that they feel this desire to show to Europe again, ‘Ah, you missed us!’ That combination should hopefully lead to a very special night for everyone involved at Liverpool.”

Slot has not directly addressed such a talking point face on, as his predecessor memorably did on more than one occasion. But he has tackled it in his own way. Time will how how the club's fanbase respond.

Confident ahead of his home Champions League debut, the Dutchman’s feet are now firmly under the table. Just four months into his reign, make no mistake, Arne Slot is very much sounding like a Liverpool manager.