Front-footed Slot looks appealing for Liverpool

ARNE SLOT, who has emerged as the front-runner to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, has become one of Europe’s most coveted coaches after building an exhilarating team at Feyenoord.

Slot’s side not only won the Eredivisie at a canter last season, they did so with a flourish, playing highoctane, attacking football which was characterised by aggressive, non-stop pressing.

The 45-year-old’s intense, frontfoot approach would make him a good fit to build on Klopp’s legacy, but Slot has also earned comparisons with Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta for the way his sides seek to control possession.

After swapping AZ Alkmaar (who he led to joint-top of the Eredivisie when the 2019-20 season was called off) for Feyenoord, Slot inherited a squad which played uninspiring, defensive football under his predecessor and quickly transformed their style.

Feyenoord finished third and reached the

Conference League Final in his first season in charge, but their squad was gutted in the following summer, with just four starters from the XI which had started the defeat to Jose Mourinho’s Roma remaining at De Kuip.

Slot (below), however, built an even better team, breaking Ajax’s stranglehold on the league with only Feyenoord’s second title this century. Though Feyenoord will not retain the championship this term, largely due to an extraordinary campaign by PSV Eindhoven, he has added the Dutch Cup to his list of honours. Strong-willed and charismatic, Slot is adored by his squad and has built a team largely using young players, another factor which should appeal to Liverpool as they prepare for a new youth-centric project. While Slot is also said to be attracting interest from Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Liverpool may be wary that importing from the Eredivisie is often a gamble.

Erik ten Hag is facing an uncertain future after failing to transform Manchester United, while Frank de Boer won four successive titles, albeit with Ajax, but tanked at Crystal Palace.