Manager

Liverpool appointed Arne Slot as their head coach in May 2024 after Jurgen Klopp resigned as their manager. Slot took charge at Anfield in June 2024 with an initial three-year contract.

Klopp gave Liverpool notice of his decision to go in January 2024 after a trophy-laden tenure on Merseyside. The German replaced Brendan Rodgers in October 2015 and went on to add Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and EFL Cup titles to Liverpool’s trophy record.

Merseyside chiefs turned to Slot to replace Klopp yet appointed the Dutchman with the title of head coach, rather than manager. He had caught the Anfield outfit’s eye as a title-winning tactician, however. Slot left Feyenoord for Liverpool as an Eredivisie and KNVB-Beker winner.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot’s past coaching career

Liverpool appointed Slot as their newest head coach after Klopp stood down from a contract running to 2026. The Dutchman had been working as a coach for 11 years after first standing in a dugout in 2013. Slot’s first job after retiring as a player came with PEC Zwolle’s academy.

PEC Zwolle sought to offer Slot a position on the sideline after retiring at the club he started his playing career with. He only stayed in charge of the Blauwvingers’ youth team for a year, though. SC Cambuur lured Slot away in 2014 with an offer to be a first-team assistant coach.

Slot’s decision to join Cambuur paid off, eventually, as he later became the club’s co-interim head coach in October 2016. The Yellow-Blues chose to promote from within to replace Rob Mass. Slot also worked under Henk de Jong and Marcel Keizer during his time with Cambuur.

Cambuur reaped the rewards from giving Slot and Sipke Hulshoff the reigns as they climbed from 14th place to third in the Eerste Divisie. The club only missed out on promotion to the Eredivisie after losing to MVV in the play-offs, and reached their first KNVB Beker semi-final.

AZ Alkmaar made Arne Slot a first-team manager for the first time in 2019

But a chance to be John van den Brom’s No2 at AZ Alkmaar tempted Slot to leave Cambuur. Two years as their assistant coach also laid the foundations for Slot to manage the club. The Kaasboeren announced Slot would take over from the 2019/20 season in December 2018.

His time at AFAS Stadion nearly yielded instant success as Slot led Alkmaar to the last 32 of the Europa League. Slot also became the first AZ boss to take 19 points over their first eight Eredivisie games. But the Covid pandemic curtailing the season saw AFC Ajax finish in first.

Despite his successes with AZ in 2019/20, Alkmaar sacked Slot in December 2020 after the tactician started speaking with Feyenoord. The Rotterdam outfit were already seeking their replacement for Dick Advocaat and took advantage of Slot’s sacking to secure his services.

Slot took over Feyenoord from the 2021/22 season and quickly began reshaping the club in his image. De club aan de Maas even reached the 2022 Europa Conference League final but lost 1-0 to AS Roma. Yet silverware soon awaited with the 2022/23 Eredivisie championship.

Feyenoord had not won the Eredivisie since 2016/17 but Slot sealed their 16th title with 82 points from 34 games. His side lost just two fixtures all term, whilst scoring 81 goals to only 30 conceded. Slot also then led Feyenoord to win the KNVB-Beker in the 2023/24 season.

Winning his first pieces of silverware as a manager with Feyenoord in 2022/23 and 2023/24 convinced Liverpool that Slot was the right head coach to replace Klopp. The Reds even paid De club aan de Maas an initial £9.5m, plus £1.5m in add-ons, to appoint the Dutch tactician.

Arne Slot’s coaching career

Liverpool (June 2024 – June 2027 expected)

Feyenoord (July 2021 – May 2024)

AZ Alkmaar (July 2019 – December 2020)

AZ Alkmaar (assistant coach, July 2017 – June 2019)

SC Cambuur (co-interim head coach, October 2016 – June 2017)

SC Cambuur (assistant coach, July 2014 – October 2016)

PEC Zwolle (youth coach, July 2013 – June 2014)

Arne Slot’s playing career

PEC Zwolle handed Slot his first position as a coach in charge of their youth side in July 2013 after he retired from an 18-year playing career. The Dutchman emerged from the PEC Zwolle academy himself during 1995, with his first-team breakthrough also arriving at 17 years old.

Injuries initially thwarted Slot’s early efforts to establish himself in the senior game. But his persistence paid off as he became a goalscoring midfielder. Slot also helped PEC Zwolle win the 2001/02 Eerste Divisie title for their return to the Eredivisie for the first time in 13 years.

But Slot left PEC Zwolle for NAC Breda without playing in the Dutch top-flight with the club. Instead, his first season of top-flight football came at the Rat Verlegh Stadion, where Slot hit four goals and five assists through 27 Eredivisie appearances during the 2002/03 campaign.

His efforts helped NAC Breda to finish the 2002/03 Eredivisie season in fourth place and to qualify for the UEFA Cup. But a 6-0 defeat on aggregate to Newcastle United finished their European dreams in the first round. It proved to be Slot’s only ever UEFA Cup appearance.

Slot’s only other European appearance came with NAC Breda in the third round of the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup. He also stayed at the Rat Verlegh Stadion until 2007 when he secured a move to Sparta Rotterdam. But the midfielder spent just two seasons with De Kasteelheren.

Despite offering five goals and five assists in the 2008/09 Eredivisie term, Slot made a return to PEC Zwolle initially on loan in 2009/10. It marked a step back down to the second tier, as well. But Slot helped his first club secure promotion in 2011/12, before retiring during 2013.

Slot was never the fastest player on any field but proved to be a creative presence through his vision. His two spells at PEC Zwolle returned 52 goals and 30 assists in 176 appearances. He also provided NAC Breda 22 goals and 16 assists over his 154 appearances with the club.

Arne Slot at Liverpool

Slot replaced Klopp as the head coach of Liverpool on the back of the Anfield team finishing the 2023/24 Premier League season in third place. He agreed to take charge on Merseyside with an initial three-year contract running to June 2027. But he did not arrive as a manager.

The Reds only wanted to hand Klopp’s successor the responsibility of overseeing Liverpool’s first-team squad. One of Slot’s most important early duties was also to get Darwin Nunez to score consistently. The Uruguayan can cause chaos but also often struggles for accuracy.

Nunez ended Klopp’s final season at Anfield as Liverpool’s second-most prolific scorer in the top-flight with 11 goals to Mohamed Salah with 18. Yet Nunez also ranked sixth through the Premier League for shots taken (108) and joint-first for attempts that missed the target (40).