Arne Slot repays Jurgen Klopp’s favour after Liverpool title triumph – but now he’ll want more

Briefly, Arne Slot seemed to lose himself in the moment. A red Liverpool shirt on top of the smart-casual blue outfit he has donned, with great predictability, for every match, he was jumping up and down in front of the Kop. Yet while Anfield chorused his name, he wanted to hear that of another.

A thoughtful man had his predecessor in his mind and, when he took the microphone, a favour was returned and repaid. A year ago, Jurgen Klopp took his leave by chanting about Slot. He was not a handpicked replacement nor an old ally, but Klopp has long had the power to persuade people. He often used it in the right way. Slot was the beneficiary: of a parting gift, of a team that Klopp christened Liverpool 2.0, of an enviable inheritance. And, 11 months on, he celebrated a Premier League title win by singing about Klopp; not particularly tunefully, but meaningfully.

“Because of what he did before I even arrived, I think that is something not even one manager did before so that is something that helped me,” Slot explained. “But apart from that, he helped me even more by the team he left behind and the culture he left behind in that team. The quality the players have was, I think, obvious for everyone. But the culture of hard work, the culture of not only from the players, but also from the staff members, has been incredible.”

Slot’s answer felt typical. He has never made it all about him. He was intelligent enough not to change too much. “To replace Jurgen is a big job and I think the manager did it in his own way,” said Virgil van Dijk. Liverpool had a fusion of Klopp and Slot; the recent contract extensions for Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah mean part of the German’s team will last for longer.

The Klopp era lives on. Many a manager likes to think they will leave a legacy. Fewer do in the shape of immediate success, with the team they built and bequeathed: not Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger or Sir Matt Busby. But it is more of an Anfield tradition. Klopp was a great Liverpool manager; a year since he left, their subsequent fortunes have illustrated it in another way.

Klopp, with his charisma and quotability, was the spiritual successor to Bill Shankly. But Bob Paisley won more. Slot could hope the parallel continues. For now, he already has the same number of Premier League titles as his predecessor.

Like Paisley, he looks the logical successor. But that is a conclusion reached with the benefit of hindsight. Slot was congratulated by owner John W Henry but credited his employers for their foresight.

“Maybe now everybody says, ‘ah, this makes complete sense’,” he said. “But the moment they signed me, is that what you said? Maybe not everyone was as convinced as everyone is now. So that tells you also what a special club this is and that they don’t always go for the maybe most simple or obvious choice.”

Liverpool may wonder what would have happened if they had appointed Ruben Amorim who, for now, looks a bullet dodged and who, with his tactical inflexibility, would not have slotted in so seamlessly. Perhaps, somewhere in the Red Bull empire, Klopp wonders if he had postponed his departure for a year if it would have been him celebrating at Anfield.

It will forever remain an unanswered question.

Ever the realist, Slot said: “Maybe it helped that [Manchester] City had a difficult spell that they have not had in five years.” Klopp had a great team who could have won more. The reason they did not lay not in their shortcomings, but in the champion side they encountered.

Pep Guardiola was quick to congratulate Slot and Liverpool, but denied Klopp the title in 97- and 92-point seasons. Players such as Van Dijk and Salah could be four-time Premier League champions by now. Slot benefited from the fact that they were unhappy to have only won it once. They had an added motivation.

But if City left a void at the top of the table, Liverpool stepped up. They spent 206 days at the summit. The wins came with Klopp’s players, but abetted by Slot’s added influence. “We came up short last year, that was obvious, we were not good enough towards the end,” noted Van Dijk. In the context of this season, they were too good for the rest.

Slot made history, but also built on it. He knew Liverpool had a lone title since 1990. He sought to reframe it.

“Let’s forget it’s the second in 35 years, it’s the second in five years,” he said. It was Klopp who ended their time in the wilderness, Klopp who put Liverpool back on the European stage, Klopp who signed 14 of the players who featured in the 5-1 rout of Tottenham and gave debuts to the other two, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones.

It was Klopp who started it, Klopp who forged a second side and Klopp who stunned Anfield, Shankly-style, with his departure. And Slot was the first to acknowledge the part he played in his triumph.