Jurgen Klopp praised his Liverpool replacement, Arne Slot, as a’very talented coach’ and is convinced his previous team would prosper under the Dutchman.
Slot arrived at Anfield this summer to succeed Klopp, who ended his nine-year reign as Liverpool manager.
The former Feyenoord manager got off to a victorious Premier League start last weekend, defeating Ipswich Town 2-0, and has already left Klopp delighted. Arne, yes.
In an ESPN interview, Klopp described himself as a “really good coach.” ‘I was overjoyed to learn that Liverpool was interested in Arne Slot. A lot has changed since we left.
‘But the only concern for me was, will they get a good coach? Liverpool was early and Liverpool got a top, top, top solution in Arne Slot.
‘I like his football a lot [how he] played it with, with [Feyenoord], so that’s really good. I saw the Sevilla game, the preseason friendly at Anfield – big parts of it were really good. And the league game [against Ipswich], the second half was obviously really good.
‘But it’s not important that I like it, you can see he is a very good coach and the team, I know now better than most, is a really good squad, is a really good team. So it’ll work out really well.’
Klopp revealed that he had been in contact with Slot during the early days of his tenure but it pleased to see that his successor has put his own spin on this Liverpool side.
‘We spoke one or two times [at the start]. I think we texted a few more times. But there is nothing I can tell him what he couldn’t know himself,’ Klopp added.
‘Right now from my side, just to give positive feedback in the beginning because we are all human beings and he worked his socks off.
‘When I saw the games, that’s why I watched it, not to think, oh, how does it look? The work he did was obvious, the ideas obvious. And that’s the best you can say about the coach.’
The Reds will look to make it two wins from two on Sunday when they host the visit of Brentford at Anfield.