Liverpool expert David Lynch believes that Arne Slot taking over from Jurgen Klopp could lead Liverpool to even greater heights as the Dutchman eradicates “bad habits”.
Liverpool expert David Lynch is of the view that new Reds boss Arne Slot is “just as good” as his predecessor Jurgen Klopp and is eradicating some of the “bad habits” that the Reds fell into during the final months of the German’s tenure.
Another two-horse title race between Manchester City and Arsenal was anticipated at the start of the new term, but Liverpool head into the October international break sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League table, one point clear of last season’s gold and silver medallists.
The Reds have won six of their opening seven Premier League games under Slot, the one aberration being a 1-0 home loss to Nottingham Forest, in addition to beating Bologna and AC Milan in the Champions League and kicking off their EFL Cup defence with a 5-1 thrashing of West Ham United.
Slot is the only Liverpool men’s manager in history to win nine of their first 10 games in charge, while he is also just the fourth Premier League manager to win each of their first four away games after Luiz Felipe Scolari, John Gregory and Bobby Gould.
And Lynch – speaking exclusively to Sports Mole – has admitted that he was slightly taken aback by Slot’s exceptional start, saying: “He’s slightly fixated on that Nottingham Forest defeat, isn’t he! He keeps bringing that up, so that’s clearly really in his head.
“But the fact is, even with the kind fixture list, when that came out and then you knew what Liverpool’s Champions League fixtures were going to be, I really did not expect that they would be heading into this international break top of the Premier League and having won two from two in the Champions League and nine from 10 overall.
Lynch: ‘Slot has taken to Liverpool like a duck to water’
“When you do get a new manager, you expect problems and issues to arise with understanding what he’s asking or coming into a new league and finding there are totally new challenges, but he seems to be across everything.
“I like how Liverpool have won a few different sorts of games as well across this run, winning in really different ways, and I think that speaks to how well prepared the manager is.
“The fact he’s got the best-ever start, I think that says a lot about the fact that he’s inherited a very good situation in terms of where the squad is at, the experience and the mix of quality that is there. For example, Jurgen Klopp was never going to have that start because he came into a little bit of a mess, but Slot has inherited a much better situation.
“That said I still believed that there were going to be issues there and we were going to see them. Maybe they are yet to come, but I thought there’d be a few more teething problems in these early stages but he’s taken to it like a duck to water and I guess all fans are absolutely delighted with that and hoping it can continue now after the international break when it does look a little bit tougher.
“I think one of the big question marks as well is ‘what was that legendary figure (Klopp) worth points-wise?’ Is this squad as good as we thought it was or was he squeezing the best out of it and then a new manager is going to come in and all of a sudden there’s a five or six points drop-off worth in terms of the performance level? Then you start to see that in the first few games and there’s just been no signs of that.
“In fact, kind of quite the opposite, really – we’ve been seeing improvements in players. Think of quite a few individuals across the squad who have looked better than they have for a while.”
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‘Slot is as good as Klopp at getting the best out of Liverpool’
A quiet window of summer spending saw Liverpool only strike deals for two new players in Federico Chiesa and Giorgi Mamardashvili – the latter of whom will officially join from Valencia next summer – but Slot has managed to get the best out of previously stagnating players.
Luis Diaz and Ryan Gravenberch in particular have been singled out for high praise, and Lynch believes that Slot’s ability to “squeeze” the best out of his current crop is on par with that of Premier League and Champions League winner Klopp.
“Luis Diaz is already over halfway to equalling his Premier League goal tally from last season, Cody Gakpo looks incredible. Ryan Gravenberch is the key example of that, actually – he’s been absolutely ridiculous and I think we’re even seeing another level from Alexis Mac Allister. [Virgil] Van Dijk looks as good as he ever has, Ibrahima Konate is getting on the pitch and playing incredibly well.
“When you’re seeing that collective improvement across individuals, it suggests that there’s going to be no drop-off. As much as Jurgen will be missed on a personal basis, in terms of what you’re getting out of the squad and being able to squeeze that out of them, Slot is just as good, which is not something I thought I would be saying at this point.
“And perhaps I won’t be saying it later in the season when it does get a little bit more difficult, but you can only go off what we’ve seen so far and what we’ve seen so far is very, very good.”
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‘Bad habits had been baked in at Liverpool’
Slot has not only been lapping up the plaudits from supporters and pundits – a handful of Liverpool stars have also sung his praises, in particular the rejuvenated pair of Diaz and Gravenberch.
The former recently told Sky Sports News that he feels “calmer and happier” this season as he thrives on the left wing, while Gravenberch told ESPN that his newfound confidence comes from Slot’s trust amid his terrific transformation into a battling number six.
Klopp’s final season still saw Liverpool win the EFL Cup and return to the Champions League, but Lynch has revealed that “bad habits” had started to set in during the last innings of the German’s reign, and all at the club are benefitting from this fresh start under Slot.
“It chimes with what I’ve been hearing from people within the club as well, in terms of… not happy to see Jurgen go by any means, but I remember speaking to a source about a feeling that it did need freshening up, things had got a little bit stale, bad habits had been baked in, in all areas of the club,” Lynch revealed.
“There has been a refresh in terms of staff in, how it looks there and just bringing in a younger manager, younger staff – just changing things. It’s really given everything a lift and given it that freshness.
“And I think that’s inevitable, no matter how good Jurgen was. When you get a manager who’s there for that long, then the messages do end up becoming a little bit stale and you do need change and you do fall into habits rather than seeking the improvements all the time.
“You maybe think, well, this has always worked for us, why don’t we stick with it? And that attitude has really changed across the club, and we’re seeing the benefit to that in this early stage.
“It feels like sacrilege to say that when you’re talking about someone like Jurgen Klopp, but I do think it has been really, really helpful in terms of giving a mental lift to everyone, and that freshness – the players really do seem to be enjoying it.”
Slot is currently gearing up for a daunting run of post-international break fixtures, as Liverpool face Chelsea on October 20 and Arsenal on October 27, either side of a trip to RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
Lynch previously spoke about how Slot has so successfully picked up where Klopp left off with Liverpool, insisting that he is more than just a “tribute act” for his predecessor.