Even though this is still the getting-to-know-you phase for Liverpool fans and Arne Slot, the early signs are that they will get on well together. Two games, two wins and two clean sheets – no Liverpool manager has managed that since Graeme Souness in April 1991, and that was before the Premier League even existed, to put that into context.
Yes, there are still imperfections and yes, the coming days will be important for Liverpool if they are not to emerge from the summer transfer window as the only club in England’s top flight not to have signed a single new signing. For a club with such ambitions, the need for reinforcements should not be obscured by the warm afterglow of starting the season with back-to-back wins. There will be bigger challenges on the pitch than Ipswich Town and Brentford, too, starting on Sunday with Manchester United at Old Trafford, where Slot will receive a very different reception.
But the mood at Anfield could probably be judged from the soundtrack of the late 2-0 win over Brentford, when it was clear to everyone that Slot’s first league game at Liverpool’s home ground would be remembered as a joyous occasion.
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The briefing: Liverpool 2 – Brentford 0: Diaz’ finish, Slots control, Konate’s importance
Jürgen Klopp came up with the perfect song – “Arne Slot, la la la la la” – when he took the microphone after his final game as manager last season and asked the crowd to make sure his successor was comfortable. 98 days later, the Kop complied with his request.
Slot had spent three quarters of the game with his hands in his pockets and exuded a very different energy. Since taking over the job, he has made it clear that he will no longer pound his chest or pump his fist like the previous manager did. Perhaps too much emphasis was placed on the different body language anyway. Yes, Liverpool fans loved Klopp’s passion. But more than anything, they want to see a winning team that plays fast, incisive and entertaining football, with a sense of togetherness at the heart of everything. All of that was delivered here.
“All (former Liverpool) managers would tell you the same thing,” Slot said in the press conference after welcoming spectators. “Every manager who comes here feels the warmth of this club and the appreciation of the fans. The most important thing I have to do as a manager is to make sure we play in the style the fans want to see. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Slot prepares for kick-off in his first Premier League game at Anfield as Liverpool manager (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
This seemed like an important statement, as Liverpool fans could have been forgiven for wondering whether the man who won a Dutch league title with Feyenoord would try to impose a slower, more possession-oriented style on his new side.
From what we know so far, that won’t be the case. Liverpool’s recent victory was built on the kind of football that fans love – chasing their opponents and playing with the speed, finesse and directness that led to Luis Diaz’s first goal, which came from a Brentford corner and a counterattack in the home side’s box. It was in many ways a classic of its kind for the modern Liverpool. Not much seems to have changed, just the identity of the man in the dugout.
Arne Slot, Liverpool’s new head coach
And it didn’t matter much that, while the crowd serenaded the new manager, Trent Alexander-Arnold sat on the bench with the expression on his face of a man in no mood to join in the lovemaking. It was the second game in a row that Alexander-Arnold was substituted early to allow Conor Bradley to take up the right-back position. On this occasion, England’s caretaker coach Lee Carsley was sitting in the crowd, thinking ahead to next month’s internationals against the Republic of Ireland and Finland. Alexander-Arnold’s body language was such that Slot briefly appeared next to him to say a few words of explanation.
“He didn’t look so happy,” the Dutchman told reporters afterwards. “I understand that. Every player wants to play 90 minutes, but I don’t think the players who were on the bench at the beginning were really happy with my choice.”
“Trent came back from the national team (after playing at Euro 2024). He had a few weeks off, then came back and this was only his third game. We have to look after him because we need him for the whole season, not just the first few games. The good thing for me is that I have a very good replacement in Conor.”
Alexander-Arnold was substituted from slot (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
At some point, it won’t just be a narrative that says “he’s not Klopp”. For now, though, Slot is quick to show his new audience how he works and, most importantly, that he’s the boss. He has made the managerial transition as smooth as one could wish, right down to signing his programme notes with “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.
He did something that the four Liverpool managers before him had not: they won their first Premier League game at Anfield. Klopp’s game ended in a 1-1 draw against Southampton. For Brendan Rodgers, the game ended in a 2-2 draw against Manchester City. Kenny Dalglish’s second stint in charge at Anfield began with a 2-2 draw against Everton. Roy Hodgson? That was a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in the first game of the 2010/11 season, in which Joe Cole was shown the red card and the crowd was completely unsure of their new manager.
Things feel different with the new head coach, and that’s not just because fans behind his dugout held up a banner welcoming Slot to Anfield with the words: “We’re behind you, Arne.”
He may also have noticed the banner unfurled in front of the stands before kick-off, featuring five managers – Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Dalglish and Klopp – who are considered Anfield kings in these parts. It’s not easy to get a place on one of those banners (Gerard Houllier was left out, despite winning five trophies during a six-month spell in 2001), but he can worry about that later. First things first: the slot era at Anfield has started exactly as he would have wanted.
(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
