One former Liverpool player has warned Arne Slot that he only has ‘four weeks’ to win the respect of the Reds squad that he’ll be inheriting, or else it could soon be ‘over’ for him at Anfield.
The 45-year-old has yet to be officially confirmed as our new head coach, but Fabrizio Romano has indicated that the appointment could be finalised in the coming days.
Speaking to Squawka Football, Glen Johnson claimed that the Feyenoord boss needs to get the players ‘on side’ within his first month on Merseyside if he’s to be respected by a group who’ve worked under the long-serving and deified Jurgen Klopp.
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The ex-Liverpool defender said: “It’s important that he gets the boys on his side. He needs to get their attention, get their belief as soon as possible. Because if he hasn’t got that in four weeks, it isn’t going to work, maybe even less, maybe two weeks.
“They’re big characters. If he loses the dressing room in the first four weeks, it’s over. The players have to respect him and naturally they will do, they’re all good guys.
“What I mean by respect, I mean do they believe that he can make them win, or help them to win? He needs to make them believe in the training, in the philosophy, whatever it is that he’s going to bring. The belief of how they’re going to dissect other teams. The players have to buy into everything you say; otherwise it’s over.”
We’re sure that Slot is fully aware of how big an ask it’ll be for him to replicate the impact that Klopp has made at Liverpool and wouldn’t go anywhere near the job if he feels that the challenge would be overly intimidating.
Of course he’ll want to strike the right notes as soon as he walks in the door at Anfield, and it’s encouraging to hear that he plans to sit down for a conversation with captain Virgil van Dijk as a matter of priority (Romano).
The 45-year-old mightn’t be the most illustrious managerial name in European football, but he’d still arrive on Merseyside as a league title winner, and a coach who guided his Feyenoord team to the final of a continental tournament, both in the past two years.
While Johnson has thrown down the gauntlet to Slot with his projected timeline, he rightly acknowledges that the Dutchman is set to take over a group of players who’ve shown tremendous professionalism throughout their time at Liverpool, with no obvious ‘bad apples’ to elicit concern.
The incoming boss will have a full pre-season to make his mark behind the scenes before the acid test of his work commences in August when the 2024/25 campaign begins in earnest.