Jamie Carragher says Liverpool’s move for Arne Slot demonstrates the lack of “top managers” currently available.
Liverpool are in talks with Feyenoord over appointing Slot as the successor to Jurgen Klopp, who is standing down at the end of the season.
The Dutch champions turned down Liverpool’s opening offer of £7.75m, with a fee closer to £9m expected to be enough to secure the 45-year-old.
Liverpool were strongly linked with Xabi Alonso until their former midfielder announced he was staying at Bayer Leverkusen.
Sporting boss Ruben Amorim – who is a candidate for West Ham should David Moyes leave – and Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi were also reportedly under consideration by Liverpool.
Thomas Tuchel and Xavi will also be available in the summer when they depart Bayern Munich and Barcelona, respectively, but Liverpool appear to have focused their intentions on Slot.
Speaking to Sky Sports, former Liverpool defender Carragher said: “From Feyenoord to Liverpool is a huge jump and I think it shows at this moment that there’s probably a dearth of real top managers out there, when you look at who Liverpool are going for.
“Initially it was Xabi Alonso – it’s only his first full season as a manager – then there was talk of Ruben Amorim from Sporting, who’s only 39. Now Arne Slot is the favourite.”
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Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol explains the details around Arne Slot’s potential move to Liverpool and the type of football the fans can expect to see if he were to get the role
Carragher added the scenario potentially facing Slot at Anfield differs from the one Klopp inherited in 2014 after his time in charge of Borussia Dortmund, or the one Rafa Benitez walked into in 2004 after leaving Valencia.
“I don’t think it’s like Benitez coming in, or Klopp,” he said. “Benitez coming in on the back of two LaLiga titles and a UEFA Cup, or Klopp winning a couple of league titles and getting to a Champions League final. Liverpool were actually in a different space then.
“That Liverpool team, certainly under Benitez that I was part of, we were the team trying to qualify for the top four. The same with Klopp when he came in.
“But Liverpool are in a different era now. They actually fancy themselves to challenge for the Premier League every season. Next season, in the Champions League they’d expect to get to the quarter-finals at least.
“I think it’s a huge jump but he’s obviously a great coach with a great track record so far. We’ll see.”
Neville admits ‘surprise’ at Slot move
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Gary Neville gives his take on Liverpool’s move to appoint Feyenoord manager Arne Slot to replace Jurgen Klopp
Gary Neville admitted his “surprise” at Liverpool opting for Slot as their choice to replace Klopp, adding: “Jamie Carragher had told me two different managers so it wasn’t what he was expecting either.
“He’s a successful coach in Holland. I love Dutch coaches. There’s a way of coaching that comes back through some of the great coaches of the game.
“Obviously it’s a change going from the Dutch league to the English league. It’s a very different approach to Jurgen Klopp but I don’t think they could ever really appoint a manager that’s got the personality, character and force of Klopp.
“It’s interesting. It’s obviously something that’s been driven by Michael Edwards, in terms of them wanting a different approach.
“Maybe that’s why Edwards left Liverpool – because he clashed with Klopp. But now he’s got his own way and he’s bringing in someone he thinks is going to take Liverpool forward.
“We don’t know how that’s going to go. The reality of it is that we’ve seen the post-Arsene Wenger era at Arsenal has been difficult. The post-Sir Alex Ferguson era at Manchester United has been difficult. Klopp is massive in Liverpool so they’ve got to try to get that right.
“We thought it was going to be Xabi Alonso originally and then Ruben Amorim. Now it’s Arne Slot.
“Maybe he wasn’t No 1 on the list but the fact of the matter is that, if you can’t pin down who you want, you’ve got to move to the next one on the list. They’ll still have a good coach.”
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Sky Sports’ Peter Smith and David Reed discuss the news that Liverpool have opened negotiations with Feyenoord about hiring Arne Slot as manager
Neville believes Liverpool’s set-up behind the scenes could make the transition into a post-Klopp era a smoother process than Man Utd and Arsenal endured when replacing Ferguson and Wenger, respectively.
“What Manchester United and Arsenal had when they replaced those two managers was a quite traditional, old-school approach, where the managers ran the club,” he said.
“They didn’t really have a sporting department beneath them. They were the heads of the sporting department. They were the heads of recruitment, sporting director, manager and coach – all in one.
“Liverpool have a better set-up, with more depth and more structure. There’s still going to be an element of risk replacing Klopp with anybody but it has to happen. Klopp is leaving.”
Why are Liverpool keen on Slot?
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Feyenoord boss Arne Slot gives an inspirational team talk following a huge win against Ajax last season – his side then went on to win the Eredivisie
Slot, who secured the KNVB Cup last weekend and led Feyenoord to their first title in six years last season, appeals to Liverpool due to his aggressive, full-throttle style.
He has drilled his team to be adept at turning defensive actions into shooting opportunities and they top the Eredivisie for tackles won in the opposition’s final third.
Feyenoord have the best defence in the league and the second-best offensive metrics.
Slot has proved capable of improving individuals as well as the collective, while operating on a smaller budget than his core competitors, and his penchant for a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation fits Liverpool’s squad.
Slot has previously been approached by Tottenham, Chelsea and Leeds. He signed a new contract last May to keep him at Feyenoord until 2026 but has referenced a desire to make the next step in his career.
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