Arne Slot referred to as on Liverpool’s gamers and supporters to choose up the place they left off beneath Jurgen Klopp as he predicted a clean transition forward of his first season in cost at Anfield.
The 45-year-old, who formally started work on June 1, praised his predecessor for serving to launch a “improbable period” for the Premier League, with the 2019 Champions League winner having cast European soccer’s defining rivalry with Manchester Metropolis’s Pep Guardiola.
Klopp stood down on the finish of final season after 9 years within the job, paving the best way for former Feyenoord coach Slot to step into the function.
Talking to the membership’s web site in his first interview since taking the job, he mentioned in a message to supporters: “There’s a change. However the change hopefully isn’t that large, as a result of we nonetheless have the identical gamers.
“We nonetheless have the identical followers. And if each are going to do the identical job, that may make my life much more simple.
“I’m anticipating them to indicate up once more within the upcoming season. The identical for the gamers. I’ll do every part in my curiosity and energy to steer the crew in the absolute best approach.”
Below Klopp, Liverpool gained the Premier League title in 2020, the primary time they’d been topped champions in 30 years and twice completed runners-up to Guardiola’s Metropolis.
In every of these two campaigns in 2018/19 and 2021/22 they had been concerned in a breathless race with their rivals, fishing with a document variety of factors for a aspect to not win the league.
Slot pointed to the “super job” achieved by the German to revive Liverpool’s standing as common title contenders and mentioned Klopp’s work had meant he takes over with the squad properly positioned to proceed to problem close to the highest of the division.
“I’m 45 now, watching soccer for a very long time and watching soccer loads,” he mentioned.
“There’s been an period the place everyone regarded on the Barcelona aspect of Xavi, (Andres) Iniesta and (Lionel) Messi. The rivalry with Actual Madrid with Cristiano Ronaldo being there.
“I feel when that got here to an finish, the brand new rivalry in European soccer got here between Jurgen and Pep Guardiola. I feel for everybody that loves soccer, it was a improbable period, each of them getting the perfect out of one another.
“I’ve seen a number of video games of Liverpool, a number of video games of Metropolis as properly. If you reside in Europe, the Premier League might be the nicest league to observe.
“He’s achieved an amazing job over right here and I’m actually pleased with that as a fan. However now as his successor, he left Liverpool in the absolute best approach I feel. Excellent crew, so trying ahead to it.”
Slot was an Eredivisie winner with Feyenoord in 2022/23, the primary time the membership had been topped champions within the Netherlands since 2017, and is taken into account probably the greatest coaches within the membership’s historical past.
