Jurgen Klopp praises Arne Slot’s early Liverpool impression

Jurgen Klopp said Arne Slot’s influence on Liverpool is already “clear” in his opinion. He doesn’t miss his job, but he does miss the players.

Slot played his first Premier League game on Saturday, helping Liverpool to a 2-0 win at Ipswich.

It was the first competitive match of the post-Klopp era, as Slot replaced the man who led Liverpool for almost nine years and guided the club to the 2019 Champions League title, the 2020 Premier League, an FA Cup and two League Cup triumphs.

Replacing the German coach was going to be difficult anyway, but Klopp said he was happy when Liverpool turned to Slot and got things sorted early in the summer.

In an interview with ESPN Netherlands, Klopp said: “Arne, yes. A really good coach. I was very happy when I heard that Liverpool went for Arne Slot. I was not involved in anything, it shouldn’t be like this, and I’m not the type of guy who sits in the background, who still has some strings and stuff. I don’t want that. The club is too big, too good. (The) people are too good.

“A lot has changed since we left. But the only concern for me was, will they get a good coach? Liverpool were there early and Liverpool got a top, top, top solution in Arne Slot.”

He added: “I really like his football (how he) played with (Feyenoord), so that’s really good. I saw the game against Sevilla, the pre-season friendly at Anfield — big parts of it were really good. And the league game (against Ipswich), the second half was obviously really good.

“But it’s not important that I like it, you can see that he is a very good coach and the team, which I know better than most, is a very good selection, is a very good team. So it will work out very well.”

Klopp and Slot spoke in the early stages of the transfer window and have remained in contact ever since. And after watching Liverpool’s pre-season and triumph over Ipswich, Klopp can already see clear signs that Slot’s philosophy is having an impact on the club.

“We spoke once or twice (at the beginning). I think we texted a few more times. But I can’t tell him anything he couldn’t know himself,” Klopp said. “Now, from my side, just to give positive feedback in the beginning, because we are all human beings and he worked very hard.

“I know that because the tour is super intense in a year where you have the Euro and the Copa, you don’t have the team together, but they come, you have a week until the first matchday and things like that. So I think he had a similar situation, but exactly the same situation? Absolutely not.

“When I saw the games, that’s why I watched them, not to think, oh, what does it look like? The work he did was clear, the ideas were clear. And that’s the best thing you can say about the coach.”

Klopp has kept in touch with a number of players since leaving the club, including captain Virgil van Dijk.

“Incredible player,” Klopp said of Van Dijk. “Incredible player. Incredible guy. So I miss them. I don’t miss the court, (but) I miss all the people there. We can, we can see each other whenever we want in the future.”

Van Dijk’s contract expires at the end of the season, but Klopp has not yet said how relations between his former captain and the club will work out.

“I have no idea what he, what they’re going to do,” the former coach said. “And it’s all their own decision. They’re adults. They’re going to do the right things.”

Klopp is taking a break from management and has pledged to take a year off from the game. He says he feels “fully recharged” after nine weeks of relaxation since quitting Liverpool, but he is in no rush to return until his self-imposed 365 days are up. He has spent the summer with his family, watching the Olympics, playing padel and keeping a close eye on how his Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders is getting on as manager of RB Salzburg.

“I didn’t say I can go again,” he said. “It’s just, am I in a good mood? Yeah. Life is different when we’re not responsible for these kinds of things, so I’m really enjoying it.

“I still like watching football and especially Salzburg at the moment because (manager) Pep (Lijnders) is super important to me, so I like watching it and seeing the progress. I also saw Liverpool play (which) was really good. Those are the things I watched, but then there was also a lot of Olympics and things like that.

“So far a great summer. You also have to plan your free time, because a lot of people want to meet you and things like that. So we had to calm down a bit, but it’s going well. We’ve now spent three real weeks with the grandchildren and the children together. It’s been wonderful.”