Fans saw a more measured approach and less manic energy from Klopp’s successor in a 4-1 friendly win against Sevilla as Liverpool’s new boss Arne Slot seemed to exude perfect poise, calm and control on the sidelines, minus the frenzied, frenetic gesticulations of former boss Jurgen Klopp on the sidelines.
Liverpool were agin back in their natural habitat, confidently dominating play and winning convincingly, yet somehow there was something distinctly different about Anfield this time.
Perhaps it was the unfamiliar sight of supporters applying sun cream while basking in temperatures more familiar to Sevilla than Merseyside. No, it was the uncharacteristic calmness that radiated from the home technical area to the home team. If that was it, it certainly looks like the adaptation to the Arne Slot era is already under way.
It had been almost nine years of manic energy and wild gesticulation on the Anfield sidelines when Klopp held the reins, but this time there was a distinct calmness in the place where Jürgen Klopp used to stand with his dominating presence. In vast contrast, his successor was a model of composure by comparison, his most theatrical move having been to remove hands from his trouser pockets to direct another tactical instruction. The quiet, yet distinctly invasive, signs of the new era under the new Anfield boss are definitely coming through.
The new head coach’s cool demeanor was reflected in the approach of his team in the convincing 4-1 defeat of Sevilla. Albeit only a friendly, the match witnessed by a crowd of more than 59,000 against a Sevilla side that had painfully endured a turbulent campaign with three coaches last season and are themselves now starting anew under García Pimienta.
The post-match conclusions that needed to be drawn were quite perceptible.
Liverpool were less intense but decidedly more measured in possession compared to the previous regime. Slot believes that what they lose in intensity, they will gain in control. The ferocity and potency to Liverpool’s play in the final third showed that nothing has been lost at all, as was amply demonstrated by four goals of the highest quality.
Diogo Jota’s potent left-foot volley into the top corner after Liverpool kept pressure on the visitors from a free-kick opened up the scoring, followed by Luis Díaz’s emphatic finish into the same spot having been released by Jota, who cut an impressive figure in the central striking role that Slot envisages for Darwin Núñez, with the Colombia international tapping home at the end of a flowing move that illustrated how Liverpool midfielders, in this case Dominik Szoboszlai, will be tasked with breaking in behind opposition defences this season.
“I think you can see we focus a lot on the build up, a lot more responsibility for our centre-backs with and without the ball,” said Virgil van Dijk, who was himself making his first appearance under the Dutch coach following a three-week break after Euro 2024.
“But obviously our midfielders are important as well and we try to create certain patterns on what the opponent does against us.
“I think you can see in the way we play that the moments we have during the game, they are looking good. They still need to be fine-tuned and we still need to be flexible as we were with the goal Lucho scored.
“We tried to play short but when they go man v man then you have to think about overplaying that first and second line, and then sprint and get the second ball. We have to find the right balance in that sense but you can clearly see the patterns that we tried to create and the build up. So far, so good and we have to keep doing it.”
The Liverpool captain is one of three stellar names – besides Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold – who have entered the final year of their contracts,. When asked for an update on his contract situation, Van Dijk said: “There is no change at the moment.”
Slot only got a bit more animated during the times when Liverpool dwelt too long on the ball in defence. , as he had directed his backline to play quicker through the lines when a Jarell Quansah slip presented Stanis Idumbo with an early chance that was skied into the Kop.
That apart, Liverpool’s one-touch football and interplay made made their debut under the new head coach a hugely encouraging one. It was followed later in the day by a behind-closed-doors friendly against Las Palmas, with the likes of Núñez, Curtis Jones, Wataru Endo, Cody Gakpo, Andy Robertson, Harvey Elliott and Conor Bradley all starting the second game.
As the curtains came down on the end of his first Anfield victory, Slot gave a polite little wave to supporters behind his dugout and whistled along as “Town Called Malice”boomed vociferously from the PA. Fist-pumps ostensibly accompanied the sight of Liverpool dominating and winning with ease.
“We all want to achieve the best that we can,” Van Dijk said.
“We’re participating in each competition to try and win it. It’s almost impossible to do that but we are ready for the start of the Premier League and then we hopefully grow into the season. I think we should make some signings based on how long the season will go but they are working behind the scenes and I trust the club that they will get the best possible squad in order to compete in every competition we are in.
Well spoken.
Aye, aye, Captain!