Leverkusen opponents Liverpool: Slot is Klopp’s successor

After nine years of Jürgen Klopp, the question was how Liverpool FC could continue without this coach. Answer: pretty good. Under Dutchman Arne Slot, what the German once sown is blossoming – will it also work against Alonso’s Leverkusen?

Arne Slot can be a volcano, says Frank Wormuth on the phone. Hardly anyone can assess this better than the former head of DFB coach training, who met Slots teams several times between 2019 and 2022 in the Dutch Eredivisie as coach of Heracles Almelo. At that time, Slot initially managed AZ Alkmaar and then went to Feyenoord Rotterdam in the summer of 2021. Six months earlier he had been released from Alkmaar, presumably because of negotiations with his new club. Wormuth’s impression is confirmed on Feyenoord videos. In one sequence, Slot stands on the lawn and loudly takes part in a chant with his own fans. He doesn’t use a microphone – but instead amplifies his calls by placing his hands to his mouth as a horn.