New Liverpool manager Arne Slot took a page out of Jurgen Klopp's play book by naming Steven Gerrard as the one player he wished to manage. The former Feyenoord boss has taken to life at Anfield like a duck to water, guiding the Merseysiders to the summit of the Premier League and the top eight of the Champions League.
While most of his talking is being done by his players on the field, Slot is still able to ingratiate himself with his new fan-base during his interviews. When asked to choose any player, past or present, to coach, the Dutchman opted for the legendary Reds' captain.
In similar fashion to Klopp, Slot quickly admitted that his answer would have been different one year ago. Considering his explanation, his response may have been a means to get himself over with the Liverpool faithful even more than he is now.
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He told Amazon Prime Video: "If you had asked me this a year ago, I would have probably said Iniesta, but I think now I am going to go for Steven Gerrard, being the Liverpool manager.
"Why he might deserve to be in my team is that the other ones, like Iniesta and like Zinedine Zidane, they played with incredible teammates, and, of course, Steven Gerrard played with good to really good teammates.
"But I don't think he played with the same level of players that Iniesta or Zidane played with. And then still being so special for the club, winning, lifting the trophy once, playing for so long for this club."
The strategic pivot to Gerrard could be seen as Slot's nod to the Liverpool faithful, possibly taking a leaf out of Klopp's book, who had previously given a similar answer when posed with the question. In an interview with This is Anfield, Klopp said: "Stevie and me together in the roles.
"He as the man on the pitch and me as a coach that would have been nice. So it's Stevie. Six years ago it would have been a different answer but now I'm here and I know him as a person and as a player so that's now an easy answer."
While Arne Slot has expressed his high regard for Gerrard largely based on the legendary status the ex-England captain holds at Anfield, Klopp has hinted at a desire to collaborate with Gerrard due to their strong personal rapport. Regardless of Slot's motivations for valuing Gerrard, there's no denying that he's brought a wave of enthusiasm to Liverpool fans.
As things stand, the Reds are top of the Premier League and currently on course to progress into the next round of the Champions League. Their Champions League campaign has began with a 3-1 win against AC Milan before breezily dispatching Bologna 2-0.
Slot will soon navigate a demanding schedule post-international break, with his team set to entertain Chelsea before embarking on a Champions League trip to face RB Leipzig.
