Arne Slot has had an impressive start to his tenure at Liverpool, with The Reds sitting top of the Premier League table.
A shock defeat at Anfield to Nottingham Forest is the only blemish on Slot’s Liverpool record so far, which includes an impressive Champions League victory against AC Milan.
Liverpool also travelled to Old Trafford to demolish Manchester United, with the Dutch manager showing no signs of faltering under the pressure of replacing Jurgen Klopp.
Many expected Slot to struggle in his first season in English football, especially after an underwhelming summer transfer window. Liverpool failed in their pursuit of Martin Zubimendi, with Federico Chiesa’s arrival at Anfield from Juventus being the only signing.
Slot has excelled in his new job despite all of these potential pitfalls. This has led to many suggesting that he has rightly continued where Klopp left off. However, the Dutchman has revealed that his football philosophy is actually inspired by one of Klopp’s great managerial rivals.
Arne Slot reveals his admiration for Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona
In an interview with UEFA.com, Slot explained that his managerial philosophy was developed during his playing career when Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona team dominated European football.
He said: “I was not so fast, some people called me slow, and that helped me maybe a bit with game insight. Individually, I couldn’t go around three players. I always needed my team-mates where I could play them my passes.
“I was lucky enough that then the Barcelona team started playing, and I saw similar patterns, not in terms of how we play it, but more: OK, this ball which we sometimes play – and Barcelona constantly plays – leads to success. And that’s helped me create my own philosophy about football.”
The tiki-taka style of Guardiola’s Barcelona continues to influence football around the world to this day. Teams at all levels attempt to play the ball out from the back to replicate the highly successful philosophy that has influenced Slot.
For Liverpool fans, though, it may sting that their new coach was inspired by the manager who prevented Klopp from winning even more at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola’s storied managerial rivalry
Klopp delivered Liverpool their first league title in 30 years in 2019/20, but if it wasn’t for Guardiola’s Manchester City, it could’ve been much more.
In the season before this league triumph, Liverpool amassed 97 points, which would’ve been enough to win the title in every season since 2019/20. However, Guardiola’s side pipped Klopp to the title by a single point.
The same story played out in the 2021/22 season when Klopp’s side finished with 92 points, only topped by Guardiola’s City, who came from two goals down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 and win the title once again.
Klopp is a legend at Liverpool for his achievements at the club, but his trophy cabinet would look even more impressive if not for Guardiola and City. It remains to be seen whether Slot’s admiration of Guardiola will see him topple Liverpool’s great modern-day rival.
The post Arne Slot reveals his winning Liverpool philosophy is inspired by Jurgen Klopp’s greatest rival appeared first on HITC.
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