Soccer Football - Liverpool photo opportunity with new manager Arne Slot - AXA Training Centre, Liverpool, Britain - July 5, 2024 New Liverpool manager Arne Slot inside the training centre Action Images via Reuters/Craig Brough/File Photo
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Nine years of exhilarating, high-octane football is over at Anfield, with new Liverpool coach Arne Slot looking to herald a new era on Merseyside by bringing a different style of play altogether.
Klopp shocked the world in January when he announced he was to step down as Liverpool manager at the end of last season, with the German saying his goodbyes to an emotional Anfield on the final day.
The man with the formidable task of replacing Klopp, who won a Champions League and ended Liverpool's 30-year wait for a league title during his time in England, is former Feyenoord boss Slot.
So far, the transition has been uneventful, with Liverpool the only expected Premier League title challenger yet to make a major signing in the close-season transfer window. The new boss is unconcerned, however.
"We already have a good team, but it would be a surprise for all of us if we don't bring any player in," Slot said late last month. "That will probably happen in the end. For now, we're just waiting for the players to come back and the right ones to sign."
His current crop are liking what they have seen from their boss so far, indicating Liverpool will have an entirely new look this term.
"He's amazing," midfielder Curtis Jones said when asked how it has been working under Slot so far.
"It's probably the happiest I've been in terms of a style of play that suits me. It's a clear plan in training and he's fully involved, coaching us a lot. He's big on the finer details.
"We need to be comfortable on the ball and be calm in our build-up as a team. We're not in a rush to attack. We need to break teams down and when we give the ball away we can press.
"In the past it was a rush to get the ball back, a bit too direct, up and down, up and down. Now we want to have all the ball and completely kill a team."
Such was Jones' high praise for Slot, he later had to rebuff questions that he meant any disrespect towards Klopp.
Instant results to once again get Liverpool challenging champions Manchester City this season, after falling away towards the end of Klopp's final campaign, will have supporters feeling equally content.
(Reporting by Peter Hall; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
