NewsArne Slot insight: LFC culture, possession philosophy and final hours before a game
The Dutchman oversaw the eighth win in his first nine games as Reds head coach as Bologna were beaten 2-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
In a new interview published by Sky Sports, he was asked a series of questions about his fledgling months at the helm at Anfield and how he has gone about getting to know the players.
Slot also discussed his preferred style of football and detailed his methods in the final hours before Liverpool take to the pitch.
Read a summary below…
How do you get to know each player in the squad [as a new head coach]?
It’s day-by-day work. I still get to know every player better and better. It’s a lot about bringing your ideas to the players, it’s a lot about getting to know them, how they feel in certain positions, how they feel playing with each other and in the tactics we want to bring in. You do this in team meetings but you also do this in individual meetings and during these individual meetings you hear about their private lives more and more as well. So, it’s a process that is continuously going. I’m not a type of manager that wants to get to know them within the first week and I am having 150 meetings! No, it’s bit by bit, bit by bit, trying to implement things and trying to get to know the players better.
Do you implement any new rules for the players when you start at a new club?
Maybe we have implemented one or two and if you ask me, I don’t even maybe know which they are. There was a real good culture of players being on time; I hate it if we have to talk about fines for players being too late. It’s normal that you are on time. But that culture was already here and I can’t come up actually with a rule that I have changed. Maybe the only one, I don’t know if it’s a rule but they were used to going into hotels a lot the day before the game. And that’s what we’ve changed, because I felt and my staff feel the best place to sleep is your own bed, it gives you the best rest possible. That’s not a rule but that’s maybe one of the few things we’ve changed, that players are before a home game in their own house, in their own bed, instead of being in a hotel. That’s not a rule but that did change.
They have a list of fines but the players take care of this themselves. That’s what they already did in the past few years and we just kept it like this. But the way I feel it and see it, I don’t think the players get a lot of fines because they are always in time. That’s the culture I was talking about that Jürgen [Klopp] left behind, maybe a bit of a German culture of always being on time, where we Dutch maybe are sometimes a bit different in this! But I really like it because every time I want to start the session or a meeting, they are here in the gym and the players are always on time. That in Holland is not always as common as it is over here.
Do [you] use social media?
I don’t use social media, no. I do watch some websites about football because I want to know, especially Dutch websites, what’s happening over there, which players are making a transfer or how the clubs are doing. But I’m not into Instagram or X I think it is at the moment. No, I have no account there. I don’t expect to [be on TikTok any time soon], don’t expect me to.
How long does it take for a new group of players to understand your ideas? Do you feel early on the philosophy is already being understood by players?
Yes, to a certain extent, but that has a lot to do with what I said just a minute ago – that in playing style there are a lot of similarities between what we are trying to do now and what they were used to. And of course, [in] certain details or certain game situations we want them maybe to act a bit differently than they were used to, but it helps if you take over from a game philosophy that was quite the same. And it helps that these players have a lot of quality because the more quality they have, the earlier they understand and the earlier they can execute. And the moment they execute, you can show the clips how you want it and then it goes quite fast. It always depends on which group you take over from a former manager, and I was lucky enough that they were not only understanding the game of football really well but there was also a fantastic culture inside this club when it’s about, what do you do on a daily basis to become a better player? Are you every time in time for a meeting or for the sessions? That culture, Jürgen brought in really well so it was easy for me to start, in a lot of perspectives. It has been nice until now.
How would you describe your philosophy?
Like I think a lot of managers that are currently around in football; I think most of them want the ball more than the opponent. And if you want that then you need to press the other team high and you have to have a clear idea when you have the ball what you want with this. You see this a lot in modern-day football. I think a few years ago it was a bit more equal, some managers liked to defend and some others would like to attack. But you see now, especially in the top clubs in every country, that they prefer the playing style with their team having the ball a lot.
What is your schedule like in the 24 hours leading up to a game?
It’s a lot about watching games of the other team and preparing my meeting. On a game day, I always have my game-plan meeting, which we have tried to implement in the days before in training sessions as well, but then show them even more what they can expect and what we want from them. So, my main focus is on my meeting on a game day and to finish that off in the best possible way to prepare the team in the best possible way. Afterwards I’m quite relaxed because I think I did what I had to do until the moment the game starts, and then you have to be ready to adjust if needed. But I think I’m quite focused. I prefer to be either by myself or with my kids and my wife, I don’t like friends or family to come over on a game day because I’m a bit focused on the game and on the meeting I present.