Liverpool are preparing for a new era under Arne Slot as the Dutchman prepares to succeed Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool are preparing for a new era under Arne Slot as the Dutchman prepares to succeed Jurgen Klopp

Prescot Cables secured first promotion in 15 years as record crowd cheers them to success

Prescot Cables secured first promotion in 15 years as record crowd cheers them to success

Liverpool were 4-2 winners on Sunday afternoon in their game with Tottenham Hotspur

Liverpool were 4-2 winners on Sunday afternoon in their game with Tottenham Hotspur

Darwin Nunez shouldn't have been the story of Liverpool's 4-2 win over Spurs but his deleted social media posts now raises a major question

Darwin Nunez shouldn't have been the story of Liverpool's 4-2 win over Spurs but his deleted social media posts now raises a major question

Moments you may not have spotted during Liverpool's Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday

Moments you may not have spotted during Liverpool's Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday

Jurgen Klopp discussed his special bond with Liverpool supporters after the 4-2 win over Tottenham

Jurgen Klopp discussed his special bond with Liverpool supporters after the 4-2 win over Tottenham

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Dermot Gallagher said it was a risk worth taking for Joe Gomez's high foot as the player clearly kicked the ball before Brennan Johnson's head, making it difficult to give a penalty.

Arne Slot bid farewell to Feyenoord supporters following their penultimate home game of the season on Sunday, with emotional scenes as he prepares to depart.

Slot is due to take over as head coach of Liverpool at the end of the campaign, and will bring assistant Sipke Hulshoff, head of performance Ruben Peeters and technical advisor Etienne Reijnen with him.

With the most vocal sections of Feyenoord’s De Kuip closed for the final game of the season on May 19 due to sanctions from the Dutch FA, Sunday marked a big occasion.

After a 5-0 victory over PEC Zwolle, which came following the confirmation Feyenoord had finished second in the Eredivisie, supporters serenaded Slot and his staff.

https://t.co/VVldMpynN9 pic.twitter.com/Dy4ItwrUZG

— Feyenoord Rotterdam (@Feyenoord) May 5, 2024

Slot’s name was sung before, during and after the game, while post-match he led his players over to the supporters, blowing kisses, cupping his ears and leading them through more chants.

There was a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone, as is customary at Feyenoord, while Hulshoff was also greeted with a chant of his own.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Slot admitted that the scenes “looked like” a farewell.

“But it also has to do with what we achieved here in the last three seasons,” he added.

“I think they liked what we saw in the last three seasons and also today.

“But with all the rumours in the media, I think they are expecting me to leave, that is something we could say!”

Slot added: “Now I got the credit, and my assistant Sipke Hulshoff, and that’s not fair to all of the others. All of the others are also very important.

“If you look at the availability of all the players we have every time, the fitness they have, then our medical department and our performance department should get a lot of credit as well.

“But you know how it is in football, it’s always the head coach.

“That’s the nice thing when things are going well; when it’s not that good, it’s also about you as a head coach.

De Kuip is al een minuut of 10 bezig met een eerbetoon aan Arne Slot, de trainer van Feyenoord die naar Liverpool vertrekt. #feypec pic.twitter.com/JXvqsw3nOY

— Tim Reedijk (@timreedijk) May 5, 2024

? | Mooie momenten in De Kuip!
In de slotfase en na afloop van het duel met PEC Zwolle (5-0) wordt trainer Arne #Slot massaal toegezongen en moet zelf ook een liedje zingen. #Feyenoord #feypec pic.twitter.com/hjzNzDQ2Dw

— Dennis Kranenburg (@kranenburg1) May 5, 2024

“But I think the complete staff of Feyenoord and the players deserve a lot of credit for the way we performed here for the last three years.”

Slot is a beloved figure at Feyenoord, having led the club to the Eredivisie title as well as KNVB Cup success in his three seasons in charge, and that was reflected in the scenes of Sunday.

It bodes well for his next club that he has been able to forge such a strong bond with the Feyenoord supporters, with Liverpool fans valuing that connection with their managers.

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Arne Slot was all smiles again at the weekend after another win - this time against PEC Zwolle, the club with which he started and ended his playing career.

Slot is used to winning. In fact, he's never lost two league games in a row at Feyenoord. The team remain on course to secure more Eredivisie points this season than they did in their title-winning season 12 months ago.

Now he's going to swap Rotterdam for Liverpool. Swap the Nieuwe Mass for the Mersey. Swap one football-crazy river city for another.

The deal isn't official yet - but it's done.

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Feyenoord coach Arne Slot says he's confident an official announcement will be made about joining Liverpool but until then it wouldn't be 'honest' to discuss another club

Near the docks in Rotterdam, just down the road from De Kuip - Feyenoord's stadium - is a posh part of the city with an apt name. 'KOP Van Zuid' has apartments used by Feyenoord players and staff.

But Arne Slot prefers a quieter life whenever he gets a break from his daily football routine.

He moved to Zwolle, around a 90-minute drive from Rotterdam, when he played there. It remains his home city. For now.

It's a beautiful place, packed with ornate architecture. Sassenpoort - the old city gate - has a cannon guarding it. Just like the one on the Arsenal badge. It's a regular reminder for Slot, whose house is a few yards away, of the challenges ahead.

But Arsenal, Manchester City et al are a world away from where it all started.

"Go to Bergentheim, my hometown," Arne Slot urged me after his news conference last Thursday. "It's a good place."

So I did. I was warmly welcomed by Jan Ophof, who is still involved at VV Bergentheim, Slot's first club.

Young Arne was special even then, says Ophof, who was his first coach. At nine years old, Slot was promoted to the U12s - and already showing signs of being a coach.

"As a little boy, he was smart," Ophof recalls. "And he was technical, very good", he adds, proudly showing me a photo of the two of them together almost 40 years ago.

Image: Arne Slot during his days in youth football

"He made other players better. At nine years old, he was a leader on the field."

Ophof added: "He would come up to me and say, 'coach, can we do this? Can we do that?'

"He was very intelligent for his age. He was not a quick player for a No 10 but he had vision. He is very intelligent."

Slot's father, Arend, was a headteacher and part-time coach. He still lives in Bergentheim and also remains involved with the club.

"His father was a good footballer, too. A good family and Arne was a good boy," says Ophof.

Slot regularly returns to the club to coach youngsters and raise funds, and Ophof is proud of what he calls his "three per cent" role in Slot's rise to prominence.

"I'm proud," he says. "We are a small town of only 3,500 people. Now one of us is going to be coach of one of the biggest clubs in the world."

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Melissa Reddy shares the latest on Arne Slot's proposed switch to Liverpool to replace Jurgen Klopp

Ophof adds that Slot has a totally different personality to his Dutch counterpart and current Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag.

"He makes players good," explains Ophof. "He makes them better by making them happy.

"It's not like [Cristiano] Ronaldo with Ten Hag," he suggests. "With Mohamed Salah, maybe, he'll say, 'Salah, come here, let's talk'.

"They will talk it out for two hours. He will make Salah important for the team.

"The players love him. His arguments are good. Other trainers have arguments and you think, 'oh, that's not good'. But with Arne it's always good. He explains everything well. He's very good."

At De Kuip, the media centre has a head coach hall of fame. Slot and all his predecessors are pictured - Ruud Gullit, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Jaap Stam, Dick Advocaat and Ronald Koeman among them.

Image: Arne Slot has pride of place among the gallery of Feyenoord's greats

But Feyenoord fans I spoke to rate Slot highest of them all - and local journalists agree.

What's more, they back him to succeed in the Premier League where other Dutch managers have failed.

"I am quite hopeful," says De Telegraaf's Marcel van der Kraan. "I've seen other managers go to England and some of them I could kind of forecast that it will not work, because you cannot be blind to the English culture.

"But I only have to look at this guy and the way he presents himself, always with a smile. He is a very optimistic guy, a great communicator in the dressing room.

"The language in the Feyenoord dressing room from day one was English. His command of English is very good, as you can see in his press conferences."

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Feyenoord boss Arne Slot gives an inspirational team talk following a huge win against Ajax last season - his side then went on to win the Eredivisie

Van der Kraan has described Slot's football as "sexy" but believes his personality will be just as important in helping him deal with top stars for the first time, as well as bringing through youngsters.

"Personality is what you need in England to succeed in the Premier League as a foreign manager," says Van der Kraan. "You must have good communication with the media.

"He's been brilliant at that in the Netherlands and assume it will be the same in England. His personality may be just as important as his ideas and his philosophy about football.

"We've seen here that in every team he's coached, players have developed and improved. He leaves every club in a good financial situation because he's made sure that players have gone up in value and others come through to replace them.

"When he arrived here there was hardly any money. Now, even he says that the money is banging against the window."

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp appeared to endorse his potential successor Arne Slot, describing him as a 'good coach and a good guy'

Television reporter and Feyenoord correspondent Dennis van Eersel agrees that Slot has the confidence, belief and personality to fill the boots left by Jurgen Klopp.

"I think Slot can manage even those expectations," he says. "He can cope with this circumstance, which is huge - dealing with world-class players and a world-class club."

Back in Slot's home town, a former neighbour and boyhood friend, Albert Ligtenberg, can't wait for Slot to put little Bergentheim on the map.

Asked for his abiding memory of young Arne, he said: "He was always with a ball. Always playing football on the street or in the fields. A good boy."

Albert, two years older than Arne and now coaching a local boys' team, said: "Arne Slot is an inspiration." Liverpool will be hoping so.

Can he achieve by the Mersey the success and trophies he's managed by the Nieuwe Mass? Slot and those who know him believe he can.

As the Beautiful South once sang - almost - this could be Rotterdam or Liverpool.

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Liverpool fans have long been known for their passion and creativity in connection to the club, and Jurgen Klopp has now emphasised how “special” this is.

After Liverpool’s 4-2 win over Tottenham, Klopp was asked about a supporter with whom he recently met and shared a special moment.

The supporter in question was Abigail Rudkin, a Liverpudlian artist whose video showing Klopp her painting recently went viral.

Klopp remembered the moment and said: “I met Abigail, what a wonderful girl she is, obviously very talented.

Today was the best day ever ?
After years of painting Jurgen, I finally got to show him my work??
He said “we need to get a video! Let’s do a video”. I was in utter shock.
The nicest person I’ve ever met. Hopefully he hasn’t seen the last of me yet? pic.twitter.com/cnfclYpFKb

— Abigail Rudkin (@rudkin_abigail) May 2, 2024

“I’m really happy that we (Liverpool) have these kinds of people. We have thousands, maybe one hundred thousand people who are creative, who create things, who paint different faces on the wall, where you think ‘my god’!

“Other clubs don’t do that that frequently.”

That last line is something that makes Liverpool, as a club and a city, proud. It is testament to Klopp’s relationship with the people that he recognises such things.

The creativity of the club was on full display on Sunday as Anfield hosted a ‘Flag Day’, marking 30 years since the Kop’s last stand.

• READ HERE: The Kop’s last stand – 30 years since Anfield’s “carnival atmosphere” farewell

Before the game, the Kop displayed an iconic banner that was restored recently by supporter Peter Carney. It was also out on the last day of the standing Kop in 1994.

An iconic banner and a piece of LFC history made its return to The Kop today ?? https://t.co/XHeXNWvvIf

— This Is Anfield (@thisisanfield) May 5, 2024

While the creativity and enthusiasm to create such art will always live on among the fanbase, it is driven by having a team to get behind.

Klopp has delivered that and put a spring back into the step of supporters. He said: “This is a very very special club; I didn’t make them (the fans) believe, I reminded them that it helps when you believe.

“Everybody was ready to push the train. That’s what we did now for eight-and-a-half years.”

What a line that is to sum up how he turned Liverpool’s fortunes and created a lasting bond with the fans.

For a man whose first language isn’t English, he can make such an impact with his words.

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Darwin Nunez has fuelled speculation over a possible exit from Liverpool this summer, after removing almost all trace of the club from his public Instagram.

Nunez is coming to the end of his second season at Anfield and, despite 18 goals and 13 assists in 53 games, faith in the No. 9 is wavering among supporters.

With a big change coming this summer as Jurgen Klopp departs and Arne Slot arrives – not to mention the restructure of Liverpool’s recruitment staff in the boardroom – Nunez’s future may be under consideration.

The Uruguayan has now caught attention by deleting every post in a Liverpool kit from his public Instagram page.

His only reference to the club – on a profile boasting upwards of four million followers – comes in his biography, in which Nunez has tagged both Liverpool FC and the Uruguay national team.

Nunez has not deleted posts relating to former club Benfica, while it does not appear linked to his recent change of sponsors from Nike to Adidas.

Whether this is an act of defiance towards his current side remains to be seen, but it certainly suggests all is not well with the 24-year-old and Liverpool.

It can be argued that Nunez receives a disproportionate level of criticism for his performances, particularly given he is likely to end the season as second-top for both goals and assists behind only Mo Salah.

But that comes with the territory as an £85 million striker who continues to frustrate in front of goal given the quality of chances laid on for him.

A worrying failure to convert chances, a strange display of decision-making and a Premier League record of 32 offsides this season have led to widespread criticism.

The club-record signing has started just one of the last five games, while he is now eight games without a goal since his effort against Sheffield United on April 4.

He has only completed the full 90 minutes in 12 outings this term.

There may be no coincidence that, with Michael Edwards returning to the club and Nunez widely credited as a Klopp signing, recent reports explained that Liverpool’s recruitment staff had instead favoured Christopher Nkunku, who then joined Chelsea.

Perhaps the groundwork is already being laid for Nunez’s exit – but if not, the striker of course deserves ongoing support as a Liverpool player.

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