There are two scenes which perfectly paint the picture of how Arne Slot is slowly falling in love with Liverpool and how the Kop has grown to adore this low-key but smooth operator.
The first was in August, two hours before a behind-closed-doors pre-season friendly against Las Palmas. The sell-out crowd for another game that day, against Sevilla, had long gone and Slot was just sitting in the dugout, feet outstretched, with a young boy.
It was his son, Joep. Slot Snr pointed towards the Kop and the teenager craned his neck to survey his dad’s new stomping ground. Your correspondent is not a body-language guru, but it is fair to say they looked awestruck as Slot took pictures of his lad.
Those snaps will find a good home on the mantelpiece as a memory to cherish. It was not the first time Slot had been to Anfield but there is something emotive about an empty stadium, especially on a matchday, that makes one appreciate its character and history more.
Perhaps that was the day when it all felt real. A ‘pinch me’ moment for this bloke from the Dutch ‘Bible Belt’ of Bergentheim, who enjoyed a fair but by no means glittering playing career. He has quickly climbed his way up the coaching ladder to one of Europe’s elite clubs.
The second scene was his most recent game. Liverpool had just made a fellow Champions League team, Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, look bang average to pull five points clear atop the Premier League with their 15th win in Slot’s first 17 games.
Arne Slot is slowly falling in love with Liverpool – and the Kop have grown to adore their new smooth operator
In their last outing his side made a fellow Champions League outfit in Aston Villa look average
First and foremost, though, Slot is a family man (pictured: son Joep and daughter Isa)
Slot strolled over to the Kop with a spring in his step and gave those jubilant fans the strongest show of affection yet. Not quite the chest-thumping antics of Jurgen Klopp but a world away from his half-wave to the away end from afar after his Premier League debut at Ipswich Town.
With this weekend marking 100 days since that first competitive match at Portman Road, we know all about Slot the manager – a thirst for patience, control and in-game tactical tweaks – but not many know much about Slot the man.
First and foremost, as illustrated in that first sketch in August, Slot is a family man. He is living alone in England – on the outskirts of Manchester rather than inheriting the club-owned Formby property which has been inhabited by the likes of Jurgen Klopp and Brendan Rodgers.
But the reason he is alone is because he did not want to move the schools of his kids – as well as son Joep he has a daughter, Isa – and he recently went back to the Netherlands, as he has done in each international break so far, to see them and wife Mirjam.
‘There is no better feeling than being a father,’ he said recently.
Due to living alone, he spends his free time working on his Apple Macbook laptop, studying opponents and rewatching clips of his team’s matches and training sessions. A constant search for better. When he is having a break from studying football, he has been helping his kids study for exams over FaceTime.
This is a workaholic who believes the brain is the best tool a footballer or coach can have. This started from his playing days and one former team-mate, Julian Jenner, tells Mail Sport: ‘In terms of his football brain, I would compare him to Sergio Busquets.
‘OK, not in ability but the same mobility and technique… whatever came into his mind, he could do it. When he was in the lineup, he would speak up, when he was not playing, he would try to help the young boys.
He chose not to move into the club-owned property formerly rented by Jurgen Klopp and his family are still settled in the Netherlands
The 2-0 win on the road to Ipswich was Slot’s promising first game as new Liverpool manager
The Dutch manager’s football brain has been compared to that of Spain and Barcelona icon Sergio Busquets
‘He would always say to the coach, “Yeah, but what if this happens?” The coach would say, “Arne, you’re the creative one, you have to fix it!”. He wrote everything down, trying to expose his shortcomings to work out what he needed to improve. His ambitions sky-rocketed.
‘I come from the opposite side of the country, Den Haag. We are more chest-out and say we are the best. He is more from the realistic side, don’t go too fast. He is very easy-going, polite, if you don’t feel good then he is always there for you and shows his fatherly side.’
Those close to Slot say he thinks his upbringing and background have been a perfect grounding to make a difference in sport. ‘He believes that verbal agility is a weapon,’ says one source, who adds: ‘He thinks the biggest difference is still made in the way you deal with people.’
He learnt this trait when observing father Arend as a headteacher and amateur football coach. Slot also had a customer-facing role after his playing career when he entered a joint business venture with brother Jakko – it was called Slotwear – selling personalised captain’s armbands.
The brothers used to spend Sunday mornings hoping not to hear their parents waking early, because that would mean they were going to church. They tended to go most – but not all – weeks. Slot believes this childhood made sure he did not completely let go of his faith.
While he is not a practising religious man, Mail Sport has been told a rather quirky superstition Slot has on matchdays. He has been known to avoid looking at the clock at exactly 13.13 (1.13pm or am) for years as he, like many, believes the number spells bad luck.
A look through the results so far this season show Brighton’s Ferdi Kadioglu scored with 13 minutes on the clock at Anfield to put the Seagulls 1-0 up earlier this month. Good job, then, that hard work with his planning and tactical tweaks trumped luck in this case as Liverpool came back to win 2-1.
Sources in Rotterdam also say Slot is not a fan of the word ‘I’ and prefers ‘we’, which reminds Mail Sport of a jaunt to the Netherlands in May when he replied to our question with: ‘Football… you only talk about the head coach but it’s not fair to the others (backroom staff) if I get credit.’
The Reds boss has a rather quirky superstition, refusing to look at a clock at exactly 13.13 (1.13)
He is known to prefer the word ‘we’ to ‘I’ and previously claimed it was unfair that only the head coach gets the credit for a team effort
Slot has insisted he has simply kept the status quo and not changed much from the Jurgen Klopp era
In press conferences, Slot is coy and gives little away. He refuses to discuss contract issues and does not disclose details on injuries. While Klopp directly called out the media, Slot simply irks them by not giving as many soundbites.
This is far from an insult – his business-like style is admirable and it is generating results on the pitch. He has joked about how the 24-7 obsession with football in the UK has taken him aback, as he constantly sees his face on big screens tuned to Sky Sports at the training ground.
Slot has insisted he has simply kept the status quo and not changed much from the Klopp era, hinting that is the reason for success, but taking that at face value would be to cheapen the former Feyenoord’s boss fine work in leaping from the Eredivisie to the Premier League.
Aside from tactical tweaks and an emphasis on detailed analysis sessions, Slot’s main tangible alterations have been around routines. He has scrapped the norm of players staying in a hotel the night before games, believing stars will have a better sleep in home comforts.
The squad eat breakfast together and the club media often post videos of them laughing while Mohamed Salah seems to be propping up the coffee bar like a local down the pub. Salah sets the standards on the pitch but is also an integral leader and friendly face.
Slot is not in the players’ WhatsApp group and delegates responsibility to captain and compatriot Virgil van Dijk to ensure everyone is happy. His policy changes have been far from radical but, nearly 100 days into Slot’s premiership, he has cultivated a party ready to prosper.
