Arne Slot was right to snub Daniel Levy's chaotic Tottenham in 2023 - but Liverpool boss now needs owners FSG to fix contract confusion and ensure title tilt isn't a one-off

There are disputed accounts of Tottenham's interest in Slot back in May 2023 when they were nearly two months into their hunt for a permanent replacement to Antonio Conte, who infamously threw his toys out of the pram in an extraordinary press conference after watching his side blow a two-goal lead in a 3-3 draw at Southampton.

It's lost to history that 90 percent of Conte's rant was essentially calling his players crap, with the minority aimed at why Spurs have only won one trophy in two decades of Daniel Levy's chairmanship. That, though, is what resonated with the masses. "Tottenham's story is this!" the Italian exclaimed at his highest octave.

Spurs chased Julian Nagelsmann and considered Luis Enrique before they set their sights on Slot, who signed a new Feyenoord contract days after speculation over his future started. Club sources maintain they never made an approach and so weren't necessarily 'rejected', but the optics weren't great.

Slot, meanwhile, outlined his ambitions to lead Feyenoord into the Champions League and revealed his off-field interests played a role in his decision: "It is also the way you work. It's not always that you come into the place where you can work like we can here and be happy, professional-wise but also family-wise."

Given the upheaval at Spurs, that seemed a fair enough reason to stay.

Slot's commitment to Feyenoord left Tottenham open to further ridicule. They had gone through a similar ordeal only two years prior when they took months to replace Jose Mourinho, eventually appointing Nuno Espirito Santo after his exit from Wolves.

All the while, the club were trying to bat away suggestions Harry Kane, their all-time leading scorer and arguably best player ever, could be sold. Problems were bad enough for any new manager without the threat of the striker leaving too.

After Nagelsmann, Luis Enrique and Slot, Postecoglou emerged as the frontrunner after two hugely successful seasons north of the English-Scottish border with Celtic. By this point, much of the Spurs fanbase were irate and disillusioned with ownership, though most were willing to attach themselves to the charismatic Aussie in hope rather than expectation.

Indeed, Postecoglou's job was made tougher by Kane's departure only a day before Spurs' Premier League season began. His £86m sale did, at least, fund a transformative window in which several new core players arrived, including Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven and Brennan Johnson.

That still doesn't make up for the departure of a 30-goal striker and the captain of England, for whom a direct replacement wasn't signed until 12 months later. Postecoglou led Tottenham to a respectable fifth-placed Premier League finish when so many had predicted them to crash and burn without Kane, instead improving their final standing by three places from the previous year and instilling an enthralling style of play.

Dominic Solanke, eventually brought in to fill the Kane-shaped void, was the only fully-grown adult brought in by Spurs permanently heading into 2024-25. That's a major reason behind their struggles so far this term, as headed into the weekend sat in tenth.

At their best, Tottenham are the best team to watch in the Premier League and maybe Europe, but they don't have the full squad to sustain that peak. It's brought serious questions over Levy and his on-pitch ambition.

To Tottenham, Liverpool are what they aspire to be. They are not bankrolled by a nation and spend well within their means, perhaps a little too cautiously at times. Their organic resurgences under Mauricio Pochettino and Klopp, respectively, led to their meeting in the 2019 Champions League final.

Whereas Liverpool had reached a second successive European finale and boasted a history of such experience, there was little about Spurs which suggested belief of heading back to the grandest stage. Hugo Lloris' anecdote about Levy gifting watches to the squad with 'finalists' engraved on them confirmed wider assumptions that the club weren't destroyed by losing.

Those upstairs at Anfield receive some rather harsh criticism from a minority of their supporters for a perceived lack of spending in the transfer market, at least compared to their rivals. In that sense, they are the infinitely more successful version of modern Tottenham, whose fans look over at the transformation on Merseyside and must wonder 'what if'.

Liverpool did, however, have their own troubles initially sourcing the right man to come in for Klopp. Like Spurs, the club played down links to one of their supposed top targets, this time in Bayer Leverkusen's Xabi Alonso. Sporting CP's Ruben Amorim, now of Manchester United, was also in their thinking before Slot became the main focus.

If Slot hadn't hit the ground running, then FSG may have had to deal with a little more than a minor subsection of supporters revolting. After all, Arsenal and Manchester United both failed to adequately replace legendary managers, and the Reds' exhausted collapse down the end of 2023-24 suggested they might be spent on an emotional level. Factor in their only summer signing was Federico Chiesa on a cut-price deal from Juventus and it seemed very conceivable Slot could find himself struggling to stay afloat early doors.

That's not how it's played out, though. Instead, Liverpool have become more controlled and street-wise under the calm and collected Slot - a marked change of pace from the heavy metal of the Klopp era.

The Reds head to Tottenham on Sunday two points clear of second-placed Chelsea but with a game in hand. Crucially, they are the only team who sat in the top four ahead of the weekend's games with a recent history of winning the title. The window of opportunity is open and Liverpool are seizing their moment.

In the short term, Liverpool could very well sprint away with the second Premier League title in five years. It would firmly silence all doubts over Slot and his suitability to make the step up from the Eredivisie. Winning cures all and his men are doing plenty of that at the moment.

A storm is brewing over Merseyside, however. The expiring contracts of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are the only clouds currently lingering, but they will brood and grumble until their futures are sorted. It's been stressed to the high heavens over and over that Liverpool can't afford to let any of them walk away.

All three have gone up a level again this term, too, and Slot should pride himself in that. Alexander-Arnold, so often dug out for switching off at the back, has proven a far more difficult adversary against left wingers. Captain Van Dijk is quietly enjoying one of his best-ever campaigns. The ageless Salah is the frontrunner for the Player of the Year awards and even in with a shout of the Ballon d'Or.

To Slot's further credit, he's come out to act as the mouthpiece ever so eloquently since taking charge. Every week journalists arrive at their AXA Training Centre ready to ask for updates, every week he sends them packing without fuss. More combustible and agitated managers would have blown their lid by this point.

Liverpool allowing their three best players to enter the last few months of their deals at the same time deserves scrutiny, as does their failed summer transfer window. Slot can only keep up the walls for so long, even if he brings the glory days back to Anfield this season. He needs more support for the excellent job he's doing.