Liverpool head coach Arne Slot believes the similarities between his own playing style and that of Jurgen Klopp have helped to make his transition to English football a seamless one.
Slot’s team is currently six points clear at the top of the Premier League table and have already guaranteed automatic qualification for the round of 16 in the revamped Champions League with a game to spare.
The Anfield club need only a point against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night to top the league phase table ahead of Barcelona, though Slot is set to field a much-changed side at Philips Stadion, with nine first-team players — including Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold — having been omitted from the matchday squad.
Reflecting on what has helped his team reach such a commanding position, Slot said: “The way I work is I think about is how I can bring in my style of play as soon possible with this team.
“The reason that the club ended up with me is because of many characteristics that I share with Jurgen Klopp, some personalities too — that is the first focus. As a group, I’m happy to be in the position we’re in. Thanks to the new Champions League format, it doesn’t matter if we win or lose tomorrow.”
Slot added: “It took me a while to understand this format, but now I can be 100% sure that it doesn’t matter at all if we end up one or two as we play [the team that finishes] 14th, 15th, 16th or 17th and then it’s a draw to see who we’re going to face.
“This is a game for us that has no importance in terms of the result for league table. But a very wise man said to me I’ve never seen anything good from losing a football game, so we will do everything we can to try and win.”
Slot was joined for his news conference by forward Cody Gakpo, who has recorded an impressive tally of 14 goals and five assists for Liverpool in all competitions this term.
Asked whether Liverpool can learn from the disappointment of falling away in the Premier League title race last season, Gakpo said: “I think the biggest difference at this point is that last season we had a lot of injuries.
“A year has gone by and as a team you get more experience, more togetherness as well. I think we were growing together last year, we’re growing this year as well, so hopefully we can bring it to a good end.”
