Liverpool manager Arne Slot has revealed the influence that Pep Guardiola has had on his coaching career as the two prepare to meet for the first time on Sunday.
Slot’s Reds, Premier League leaders, host Manchester City, reigning champions, at Anfield.
The new Liverpool boss has surpassed expectations in his first season, seamlessly replacing Jurgen Klopp and so far delivering better results than in the German’s final year.
After an 18-year playing career in his native Netherlands, Slot took his first head coach job with Cambuur in 2016, a few months after Guardiola arrived at Manchester City. But he had been a keen observer of the Spaniard’s teams through his Barcelona and Bayern Munich days.
“When I played I always felt that certain balls my teammates gave were successful, and certain balls were unsuccessful. Then, when I started to watch Barcelona, I saw that the successful balls were only the ones that Barcelona played,” Slot explained.
“That gave me the reassurance that what I thought was the right ball proved to be the right ball. It definitely helped me to create my own idea about football and my own playing style.”
Slot insists he isn’t a obsessive admirer of Guardiola, just that his teams are usually a “joy to watch” and therefore an inspiration throughout the coaching world.
“It is not about admiration but there are few people in football who, when you watch, they never let you down. Nine times out of ten the games of Barcelona, Bayern Munich or City have been a joy to watch for everyone who loves football. So that’s why I like to watch his teams play,” Slot explained.
“He was the one who invented, maybe not invented – maybe it was done 100 years ago, or came up with the idea of inverted full-backs and then thought to push a centre-back into midfield. You always see new things or inventions with him.”
