Arne Slot has made the perfect start to his time in charge at Anfield, leading some to suggest Liverpool could even challenge for this season’s Premier League – so how far away are the Reds from actually competing with Manchester City and Arsenal?
The Dutchman took on the unenviable task of replacing Jurgen Klopp in the Liverpool dugout in June but already he has broken records by becoming the first manager in the club’s history to win their first three top-flight matches without conceding.
The Reds have so far won 2-0 at newly-promoted Ipswich Town and 3-0 at rivals Manchester United, sandwiching a 2-0 home win against Brentford to leave them level on points with champions City at the top of the table, albeit in second place on goals scored.
And that impressive start to the campaign, albeit only three games, has led Jamie Carragher to claim his former side may be genuine title challengers this season.
“What this does is give the supporters and the players real belief,” he told Sky Sports after watching Liverpool dismantle United at Old Trafford before the international break.
“The majority of the players have won everything there is to win, it gives them real belief in a manager moving forward that maybe this team is closer to challenging for the league title than many people think.”
As the Premier League returns to action this weekend, we take a look at why there are real grounds for optimism ahead for Reds fans this season, as well as sounding a note of caution for Slot and Co.
Arne Slots straight in at Anfield
When Slot was announced as Klopp’s successor in May, many considered it the impossible job trying to replace the iconic German, who had won almost every trophy possible during his near decade-long tenure on Merseyside.
Not only that, but as the summer months ticked by, it soon became clear the new man’s sizeable task would not be aided by any new signings after the Reds missed out on their No 1 transfer target, Real Sociedad holding midfielder Martin Zubimendi.
But having just passed his first 100 days in charge, the 45-year-old has seemingly made a pitch-perfect start to Reds reign, although that will not have surprised sporting director Richard Hughes, who earmarked him for the role.
Hughes, who also joined the club this summer, did his due diligence on Slot and what impressed most from his time in charge at Feyenoord was his ability to improve players by working with them on the training ground – he is a real tracksuit manager – and his tactical acumen [see the switching of Dominik Szoboszlai’s position at Old Trafford].
Slot has also been sensible by resisting the urge to make sweeping changes to a team that were still chasing a quadruple as late as last April, as can so often be the case when a new manager comes in.
Rather, he has made subtle little tweaks to the team shape, with two No 6s now employed in front of the back four, and personnel, with Diogo Jota preferred to Darwin Nunez as the central striker.
Style-wise, though, there have been some noticeable changes from the Klopp era which we will look at, but at the same time we have still seen the famed Gegenpressing that was a hallmark of the previous manager, such as with Luis Diaz’s devastating counter-attacking strike after defending a corner against Brentford.
And while there have certainly been no fist pumps at full time, or pulled hamstrings after charging down touchlines berating officials, Carragher believes it is vital the new man has made such an assured start to his Reds career in order to quell those initial, albeit understandable, doubts.
“Slot will be pleased, he said. “There is no doubt there would have been lots of questions asked had Liverpool not got off to a good start.
“Those questions of Jurgen Klopp and these group of players – who have won everything – league titles, European cups, domestic cup competitions.
“You want to put that narrative to bed as quickly as you possibly can, [and show] that these players are bedding in and listening and learning from this new manager and buying into his methods going forward.
“So it does help, having this good start that Slot has had.”
