Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Mikel Arteta agree on Arne Slot as Liverpool impact clear

It doesn't last long but our fans are amazing and this is a big help for the players."

Gary O’Neil

Wolves ran Liverpool close at Molineux in September, with the Reds coming away with a 2-1 win despite not quite being at their best. Nevertheless, former Liverpool youth coach O'Neil was very complimentary about Slot ahead of the game.

“He is excellent, coaching-wise and the way he sets his team up,” O’Neil said before he was fired as Wolves boss. “It’s not a surprise to me that he has started well.

"Liverpool is very well run and very well organized, there’s no real mess there to go in and fix. He has gone into a well-run football club with a good squad and he’s a good coach.”Xabi Alonso

The man who many thought would be in charge of Liverpool right now at the start of the year, Alonso was handed a major lesson when his Bayer Leverkusen side was beaten 4-0 at Anfield. The former Reds midfielder though clearly thinks highly of the man who ended up replacing Klopp.

“Liverpool are in a great moment. I followed Arne Slot when he was at Feyenoord. I know his approach. That combined with the intensity here at Liverpool is a nice mixture," Alonso said before the game.

Xabi Alonso was full of praise for Arne Slot

Xabi Alonso was full of praise for Arne Slot (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)

“That’s why they are top of the Premier League and the Champions League. In all areas they are strong.

“The manager has done a fantastic job in the past three months. For us it’s a big challenge to come here. At the moment Liverpool are one of the best if not the best team in Europe. We have our plan so let’s see what happens.”

Unai Emery

Liverpool's victory over Aston Villa in November left them in a superb position in the Premier League, sending them five points clear at the time. Emery was unable to stop the Reds from overpowering his side on the counter, despite feeling little had changed under Slot from Klopp's time in charge.

“In some tactical things they have maybe changed something but they are playing with the same players, playing very well," Emery said before the game.

“The style we clearly can watch but more or less it’s the same power they had before. Astute tactically and offensively they are really a very strong team, collectively and individually as well. Tomorrow is a huge challenge for us to stop them, to play with our personality.”

Marco Silva

Fulham boss Silva has impressed with his side this season, and they certainly gave Liverpool a scare when they claimed a 2-2 draw at Anfield earlier this month. The Portuguese though was effusive in his praise of Slot ahead of the game.

“It's the team in best form, definitely. They’re achieving the best results, and the impact from Arne Slot has been top," Silva said.

“Okay, the expectations were there, all the eyes were there on him and on the team, how they were going to react after a big personality, a big character left the club, and was so important for the club the last nine years.

“He showed his quality so far, the impact that he’s had in that football club, on the players as well. You can feel that they are all on the same page as a football club.

“When you are doing so well, achieving such good results and playing such good football in the Premier League, Champions League, of course credits for everybody. And, on the top, has to be the manager, and Arne Slot has been great for them, definitely.”

Ange Postecoglou

Liverpool's most recent victory saw the Reds dismantle Tottenham, and although Spurs did manage to put three goals past Alisson Becker, there was absolutely no denying who the better team was for Postecoglou.

“Credit to Liverpool, they were too good for us," the Tottenham boss said. "They're in a great moment, great form, feeling confident. It was a bridge too far for us. We looked like we lacked energy which is understandable."

Postecoglou also had praise for Slot before the game as he responded to the Liverpool boss' praise of his methods.

"[Slot's opinion] is what I love about football," Postecoglou said. "There's got to be differences, people who are prepared to do things a little bit differently."

An original version of this article was first published on November 13, 2024.

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