What fans can expect of Slot, by man who knows him best
Marino Pusic was assistant to new Liverpool manager in the Netherlands and says he will be calmer than Klopp
Perhaps aside from Arne Slot himself, Marino Pusic is the person best placed in world football to explain who the incoming Liverpool manager really is.
Pusic is the Shakhtar Donetsk manager and was Slot’s assistant for five years in the Netherlands. The pair remain close friends.
They first joined forces in 2019 at AZ Alkmaar, where they reached the Europa League last 32 and were second behind Ajax on goal difference before Covid shut the league down. Their budget at AZ that year was reportedly just €25.5million, a quarter of Ajax’s.
When Slot moved to Feyenoord, having been sacked by AZ in December 2020 for entering negotiations with the Rotterdam-based club, Pusic moved with him. The pair had further success there, reaching the Europa Conference League final, where they were beaten by Jose Mourinho’s Roma, in their first season as well as finishing third in the Eredivisie. The season after, Feyenoord won the league.
The two finally split this season, with Pusic deciding to take the helm at Shakhtar.
When it is put to Pusic that he is the person in football who knows Slot the best, he wholeheartedly agrees. “Yes, that’s for sure,” the 52-year-old Bosnian says, speaking on the phone from Ukraine. “We worked five years together and were very successful – that was an amazing time … we’re not only colleagues, but also good friends.”
Pusic’s message about his former boss to Liverpool supporters is clear: do not expect to see Slot making Jurgen Klopp-style charges down the Anfield touchline to celebrate late winners with his players anytime soon.
But, despite that, his character, style of football and love for the game and its fans make him the perfect Klopp replacement.
“You will not see him running to the stands and jumping and that kind of thing,” Pusic says. “He’s switched on, very much focused on the details. He has a lot of deep thoughts about the game, about the development of the game and is an amazing coach – he showed that already in Holland, also in the games we played in the Europa League and the Champions League and also in the Conference League.”
Pusic adds: “It doesn’t mean if you’re not running in front of the stands that you’re not passionate enough; it’s not a good comparison… nobody’s the same. Every person, every coach, is unique in his own way.
“Arne is calmer, he has of course a lot of passion for the game and he always has nice interactions with the people. He has a lot of feeling for good atmospheres in stadiums and appreciates the fans a lot. He finds it very important to cherish the club and the team.”
Of course, it is not just passion and love for the fans that Liverpool supporters will want to see from the successor to the man who brought them their first Premier League title since 1990, as well as their sixth win in Europe’s top competition. What of Slot the coach, the tactician?
“I think, following football all over the world, that Liverpool did a great job by signing him. I think it fits perfectly to Liverpool,” Pusic explains. “General philosophies are always changing or adapting to circumstances. But, in general, his philosophy is a dominant way of playing. It means the proper buildup from the back, finding the right spaces, getting good players in good positions to exploit their talents and qualities, with a lot of intensity, pressing.
“Of course, Klopp also played with a lot of energy, a lot of aggression… good football. So, in that way, I think the people at Anfield will, for sure, see good football.”
Slot inherits a far better starting squad to the one Klopp took on in 2015-16. The German’s defence that season regularly featured Alberto Moreno, Nathaniel Clyne and Mamadou Sakho, while Simon Mignolet was first-choice goalkeeper. Slot will likely walk into a team with defensive talents such as Andy Robertson, Trent Alexander-arnold, Virgil van Dijk and goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
The man from the Dutch village of Bergentheim, close to the German border, has never coached such high-calibre players, which could be a challenge.
“What you can expect is professionalism, 100 per cent,” Pusic said. “He’s a great person. I don’t believe a good coach can be a bad person. He takes care of his environment, of his players. He’s a dedicated coach, working very hard 24/7.
“Once he’s on the pitch, [he expects] maximum concentration. But the way he trains and the exercises [drills] require a lot of pleasure for the players to learn that way. They will enjoy the football.
“Everybody has to be fit 100 per cent to fulfil the task in that kind of [intense] football.”
Pusic believes what Liverpool did with Klopp was similar. “A lot of intensity, that [needs] perfect fitness, but, of course, a lot of thinking about the game, taking good decisions, making fast decisions.”
This will be music to the ears of Liverpool fans and chief executive of football Michael Edwards, who will not want to see a style overhaul from the high-octane, entertaining football Klopp had his side play.
Pusic does caveat all of this with a recognition that all new head coaches can face teething problems in their first season at a club, let alone one with the history and expectations of Liverpool.
“Every coach needs a little time to adapt to a new competition, a new environment, but he’s a very adaptable person,” Pusic says.
But Pusic, who was briefly linked with replacing Slot at Feyenoord, is convinced it will work out: “I am sure he will continue the great job that Jurgen Klopp and his staff have done in Liverpool.”