I saw Arne Slot genuine moment at Liverpool training ground - it could be key in contract talks

Arne Slot will speak to the media this morning to preview Liverpool's Premier League clash at home to Bournemouth
-Credit: (Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)


When Arne Slot sat down at the AXA Training Centre to preview Liverpool's Carabao Cup third round tie against West Ham United, he will surely have known much of the conversation would centre on a player unlikely to start at Anfield on Wednesday night.

Following the Reds' impressive dispatch of Bournemouth at the weekend, the post-match discourse has largely been consumed by matters off the pitch rather than on it, with Trent Alexander-Arnold having now publicly addressed his Liverpool contract situation for the first time.

"Look, I have been at the club 20 years now,” the England right-back told reporters, including the ECHO, after Saturday's win over the Cherries. “I have signed four or five contract extensions and none of those have been played out in public. This one won’t be either. I want to be a Liverpool player this season (as a minimum) is what I will say."

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It was a diplomatic response from a player who has been at the club since the age of six and has thus far refrained from exerting public pressure on the Liverpool hierarchy. Still, in some quarters of the fanbase, his comments have sparked anxiety, particularly as it is now less than one hundred days until the defender will be free to speak to clubs outside of England about a pre-contract agreement.

If Slot shares in any of that consternation, though, it did not show on Tuesday morning, with the Liverpool boss in good spirits as he took his seat in front of the congregated media in Kirkby. The Dutchman has so far kept his counsel when asked about player contracts and he was never going to offer any further clarity on Alexander-Arnold's future in this arena.

He did, however, acknowledge that he had read his right-back’s latest exchange with the press and seemed genuinely touched by Alexander-Arnold’s further admission that he was thoroughly enjoying life under his new head coach, with the defender having noted that is is “really refreshing to have a manager who will help and guide and teach me how to be better as a player.”

“It’s nice to hear it and to read it because I think we all remember the day that Jurgen (Klopp) left and what that man meant to him,” Slot said in response to those comments.

“So you can assume how good of a relationship the two of them had, so to hear him say this about his new manager is always nice. It's not always easy to come in and replace a manager like him.”

It was a rare moment of vulnerability from a coach who - shock defeat to Nottingham Forest aside - has so far made succeeding one of the greatest managers in Liverpool’s history look pretty simple. But if Slot’s enduring respect for his predecessor is one of the attributes that has defined his Anfield career to date, so too is his willingness to speak plainly about how the team he has inherited can improve. And the Dutchman did so again on Tuesday when quizzed on how Alexander-Arnold can look to develop the defensive side of his game.

“It's difficult for me to judge how it has been in years before - we are talking here about a player that won the Champions League and a league title,” Slot said. “He mentioned himself that winning a league is about defending. It's clear to me then that he's been a good defender all his life.

"But because he's so, so special with the ball, the main emphasis goes to him doing special things with the ball. With him it's not about if he's capable of doing things, it's his concentration rate and being 100% focused.

"This is what we talk about a lot, that he always has to be active in every situation of the game even if the ball is far away from him. It's not that he's learned how to defend in the last three months; he's won the league and the Champions League.”

While Alexander-Arnold would be the first person to concede he owes his career to Klopp, it is clear that Slot’s tactical astuteness has resonated with the defender. That the Liverpool boss has so far been able to help the likes of Luis Diaz and Ryan Gravenberch unlock their true potential at Anfield is a huge tick against his name and it will be interesting to see the heights Alexander-Arnold is able to reach under the Dutchman.

His brand of management is undoubtedly different from the one Klopp employed during his nine-year stay on Merseyside. Indeed, even the fact Slot opted to face the media directly on Tuesday as opposed to delegating to his assistant, as Klopp did ahead of Carabao Cup games, points to one major divergence in the coaches’ respective strategies.

Whether Slot’s more forthright approach proves to be a factor in convincing Alexander-Arnold to stay at Anfield remains to be seen. But, whatever happens come the end of the season, it is clear the relationship between the defender and his new head coach continues to go from strength to strength.