Why Arne Slot is perfect man to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool as ex-Reds star Dirk Kuyt heaps praise on Feyenoord boss

After being snubbed by Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso and Sporting CP's Ruben Amorim, the Liverpool board has zeroed in on Slot to fill in the boots of Klopp, who has decided to go on a sabbatical after the season's business is done and dusted. Although Jamie Carragher has voiced his reservations about Slot in unequivocal terms, his former teammate, Kuyt has lavished praise on the Feyenoord manager and insisted that there would be no "language barrier".

In his column for The Athletic, Kuyt wrote: "Following in the footsteps of Jurgen isn’t easy but Arne will do it his own way and give everything to make the club successful. He’s determined and driven with a lot of self-belief. His style of play is exactly what Liverpool supporters love to see at Anfield. He’s also good with the media because he explains himself very clearly. As Feyenoord have so many foreign players, he conducts his meetings in English so there will be no issues over language."

Kyut, who spent a week with Slot at Feyenoord to hone his skills under the more experienced manager, claimed that he is a fantastic man manager and has a distinct style of football which is different from Klopp, Jose Mourinho or Pep Guardiola.

"Nowadays managers always get compared," Kuyt wrote. "Is it the Jurgen Klopp style? Is it the Jose Mourinho style? Is it the Pep Guardiola style? The answer is that Slot has his own style. He doesn’t copy anyone. He knows exactly what he wants and he believes in it. It’s attractive, attacking football. He likes to play an aggressive defence, high intensity, with the game played in the opponent’s half, but it’s his way. It’s different from Klopp but a lot of the principles are the same."

Slot has established himself as a dependable name in the Eredivisie as he guided Feyenoord to being the Dutch champions in the 2022-23 season and also bagged the KNVB Cup. Moreover, in his very first season, he led the Rotterdam-based club to a third-place finish in the league and a runners-up spot in the Europa Conference League. It remains to be seen if the 45-year-old can weave the same magic in English football in his first season with the Reds.