Before 3pm of the Premier League's first Saturday of the season , Arne Slot might already have broken the mould at Liverpool. No manager in the Premier League era has ever won their first game as Reds boss and the visit to newly-promoted Ipswich Town on Saturday lunchtime offers Slot the chance to take a small slice of history home from Portman Road on the club's first visit since February 2002. It may not necessarily be the biggest feather in the cap across the next nine months but there is absolutely no harm in starting as you mean to go on.
Slot has shown two sides to his personality during his first summer at Anfield, revealing a self-assured, laid-back and confident character when speaking on issues such as squad building, transfer business and the quality of players at his disposal. I heard what Arne Slot said when asked about Liverpool transfers - he turned question on its head EXCLUSIVE: What FSG are planning after Liverpool thrilled with Taylor Swift success On the flip side, those who got to see him at work pitchside of Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field last month at open training will have noted a passionate and driven coach who had no qualms rolling up his sleeves and getting his hands dirty. As the job title denotes, Slot is very much the head coach now and his possession-based ideas look to have already seeped into a squad that is bursting with quality in all departments.
Of course, that judgement has been gathered from a relatively short sample size of non-competitive action during July and August but it bodes well that Liverpool moved through the gears in impressive fashion at times in victories against Real Betis, Arsenal, Manchester United and most recently Sevilla. Those fixtures were bookended by behind-closed doors games with Preston North End and Las Palmas to give the team a buoyancy as they head into the unknown under a totally different structure behind the scenes. It's undeniably an exciting time, regardless of your general stance on the club's lack of recruitment so far.
While the changing of guard represents a major moment in recent history at Anfield, Slot, who has already established himself as something of a pragmatist, played down such a prospect, saying: "Maybe if you ask me afterwards I will tell you it was special or it was different. But now it is doing the same thing that I did for many years. Sky has slashed the price of its Sky Sports, Sky Stream, Sky TV and Netflix bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £216 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
With Ultra HD included at no extra cost, football fans can enjoy the 2024/25 season with crystal clear picture quality. £43 "It is special to work in a club like this as it was special to work in a club like Feyenoord which has a lot of history as well. I am fortunate that I can work at two clubs that have such history and I am now looking forward to this game.
I don’t think about this all the time, I think how can we play against Ipswich and how can I prepare the team in the best possible way to have the best possible chance to win the game." A rare luxury for Liverpool is the fact that Slot heads across the country with a full complement of players and some selection dilemmas await the boss as he picks a team to kick off the new regime in style. For a squad that were decimated by fitness issues last season, to the point where at one stage, in late February, there were as many as 13 first-team players sidelined, and there are credible claims that such problems are what really undercut the club's push for European and domestic honours last term given their efforts started to deteriorate around the April mark.
That, even above the curious call to keep the powder dry in the transfer window so far, is the most pertinent issue now for Liverpool to get right. Keep as many of those key players fit for as long as possible and the chances of success are greatly improved. That is a universal truth in football but it's an problem the Reds have really struggled with in recent months and years.
It sounds simple, but Slot and his staff have a reputation for keeping players fresh and that could yet be vital in the grand scheme of things, even if there is ample merit in making sure the search for reinforcements also reaches a successful conclusion before the August 30 deadline. The Premier League is back and the Slot era is about to finally get underway. If it is half as eventful as the previous one, it promises to be quite the journey.
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