Arne Slot reveals 'only thing' he had to change after joining Liverpool as new transfer hint made

Arne Slot reveals 'only thing' he had to change after joining Liverpool as new transfer hint made

Arne Slot has admitted he had to change one thing after replacing Jurgen Klopp in the Liverpool hotseat

Arne Slot (right) could soon become only the second Liverpool manager after Jurgen Klopp (left) to bring the title back to Anfield in the Premier League era (Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images )

Arne Slot has revealed the one thing he knew he had to change after succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. The Dutchman is on the cusp of leading the Reds to the Premier League title in his first season with the club.

A draw is all Liverpool need from the visit of Tottenham Hotspur to Anfield on Sunday to clinch the title with four games left to spare. The Reds will be deserved champions, having lost only twice all season.

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They currently sit 12 points clear of second-placed Arsenal and also boast a game-in-hand on their nearest rivals.

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The Gunners have regularly bemoaned injuries throughout the season for undermining their Premier League challenge.

However, they are not the only side to have suffered enforced absences with the likes of Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo, Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley all missing prolonged periods for Liverpool.

Yet such injuries have not derailed the Reds. And with Liverpool historically having to navigate a number of injury woes every season under Klopp, Slot acknowledged he identified needing to improve player availability after succeeding the German.

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“We took a lot of what was already very good over here,” he said. “We inherited a team that played for the past six, seven or eight years a major part in English football. The players had a lot of qualities.

“The only thing we had to do is make sure we got as many players available as we could every single time.

“Apart from that, we wanted to continue on the work Jurgen did and add a few things, but adding certain things is something we have to do next season again as well.

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“I think our competitors will try to become better next season again as well. That’s what they did in the last few seasons. That’s why they’re probably going to try next season as well, but it’s definitely what we’re going to try also.”

One criticism of Slot this season has been his lack of rotation at Liverpool.

The Reds gave not been at their best in recent weeks as they exited the Champions League prematurely, lost in the League Cup final and made hard work of the Premier League title run-in at times.

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Harvey Elliott, Wataru Endo and Federico Chiesa have failed to start a Premier League game all season while Darwin Nunez appeared to take to social media on Saturday to hit out at his lack of starting opportunities in a now deleted tweet on X.

Yet Slot stands by his decision to not make more use of his entire squad, though he did hint that Liverpool could look to bring in a number of new signings in the summer after initially persisting with his inherited ranks.

“There’s a lot of research done about the longer the team plays together, the better they start to play,” he explained to Men in Blazers . “Or the more often they play together, the better they play as well.

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“That’s why I am not a big fan of rotating the team every single game by five, six or seven positions, because I think that doesn’t help you to get the right automatisms, so key players are important and vital.

“This is the second year this team is playing together, so that definitely helps us improve. But sometimes it’s good to inject some new energy as well, some new players also.

“You have to find the balance. Last season we made the choice to keep everyone, the new manager was maybe the new energy at that time. We will see where we are going next season.”

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