Arne Slot Burns Jamie Carragher After Liverpool 4-0 Bayer Leverkusen

Jurgen Klopp built the house, Arne Slot put the roof on it. For Liverpool fans of a certain vintage, the wording of that idiom will bring back memories of the transition that saw Bob Paisley take the groundwork laid before him by Billy Shankly to build a bastion of invincibility in the 1970s and 80s. And while the natural hope among rivals fans was that the Reds would endure a demise not too dissimilar to the one Manchester United are still facing in their post-Ferguson era following Klopp’s departure, the reality couldn’t be more different.

In fact, pretty much all the damning predictions made by rival fans have proven untrue, and last night, as Liverpool put Bayer Leverkusen to the sword with a 4-0 victory, the Kop erected its first banner in salute of its new leader. At first, the phrasing ‘Arne’s slot machine’ could have been interpreted as somewhat of a joke, or just a mere showcasing of the excitement that fills the Anfield air every other week as the Reds played witness to their 14th win in 16 games. But later, as Jamie Carragher tried to pick the brains of the Dutchman, it became abundantly clear that this Liverpool side really does play with the same unpredictability of a one-armed bandit.

Slot’s Unpredictability Shines Through After Interview

Carragher, along with many of his fellow pundits, have burnt the midnight oil over the last few months, delving deep into comparisons between Slot and Klopp, before finally coming to the agreed conclusion that the main difference between their styles was that the new man would bring some ‘control’ to the Reds’ outlay. On Monday Night Football, the Bootle-born former defender even went as far as to tell Slot he can’t control the “Anfield factor” after a frantic approach helped secure Liverpool’s 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Brighton last weekend.

The entire segment revolved around the notion that Liverpool, when Anfield is in full swing, will never quite be able to fully part ways with Klopp’s rock’n’roll style. However, when given a chance to address this seemingly embedded belief that his style is black and white compared to Klopp, Slot downplayed the rumours, showing again just how far away everyone is from figuring him out just yet. Speaking to CBS Sports on Tuesday night, the former Feyenoord helmsman said:

Skip to 1:30 on the following video to see the exchange between Slot and Carragher:

Slot’s reaction to Carragher’s analysis had the whole studio in stitches, including Micah Richards and Thierry Henry, but the reality is that the Dutchman is tough to unravel, and the secret to his early successes on Merseyside could lie in that very fact. Whether it’s control that the new boss wants or not, he’s done a special job so far as the Reds prepare to continue their gruelling run of fixtures when they welcome Aston Villa to Anfield on Saturday night.