Arne Slot has been confirmed as Liverpool’s new head coach, but he signed off from his role at Feyenoord by breaking their record points tally.
The Dutchman has the unenviable job of following in Jurgen Klopp‘s footsteps at Anfield, but the hope will be that he takes it all in his stride.
Like his German counterpart, he was given a hero’s farewell after his last game at Feyenoord, a 4-0 victory over Excelsior that wrapped up an impressive three-season spell.
The three points saw the Dutch side finish with 84 points, a club record having surpassed the previous of 82 – which he equalled when lifting the Eredivisie title in 2022/23.
Finishing second with a record-breaking points tally – he and Klopp will have plenty to talk about!
Moreover, Slot’s point tally in each of his three seasons at Feyenoord are all in their top eight of all-time.
The data led to Slot
The 45-year-old finished his 2023/24 season with the second-most goals scored (92), and second-fewest conceded (26), behind in both metrics to only PSV – who were a ridiculous outlier this campaign.
Slot faces a different challenge entirely in the Premier League, but he has shown he is capable of reaching new heights with the clubs he joins.
It will be a tall order at Anfield, but in addition to his points record at Feyenoord, he also left AZ Alkmaar with the highest points-per-game average (2.11) of any other manager in the club’s history.
A data-led approach led Liverpool to Slot, and his scores, according to the Athletic, were described as “blindingly impressive.”
But as for how Slot has described his playing style, he told UEFA in 2022 ahead of the Europa Conference League final.
“We are an attack-minded team that likes to have a lot of the ball, and we play with a lot of intensity,” he explained.
“When we don’t have the ball, we want to win it back as quickly as possible by being aggressive and pressing to win back possession. I think we are a team that is difficult to beat.”
Not too dissimilar from what we previously heard and saw from Klopp!