‘Calm, composed’ Slot never feared Liverpool sack as ally reveals Guardiola comparison

Liverpool manager Arne Slot refused to alter his tactics or panic over the prospect of the sack after claiming a morale-boosting victory on Saturday, while the Dutchman himself and his captain Virgil van Dijk have had their say on the noises being made over the coach’s future.

The Reds had lost six of their last seven games in all competitions – the club’s worst run of form in 72 years – and making Saturday’s clash against Unai Emery’s Aston Villa a vital match in the context of their season. With Real Madrid to come in the Champions League on Tuesday night, and with Sunday’s trip to Manchester City signalling the entry to another international break, the 2-0 win Liverpool collected will have come as a major relief for all concerned.

During the nadir of that wretched run, serious questions had been raised over Slot’s future, with one prominent pundit suggesting he could be gone in three games if results did not go his way.

Despite those struggles, Dutch football expert Marcel van der Kraan, a close friend of Slot, insists his friend never once feared he would lose his job and remained confident throughout.

“It is a new one (Slot struggling),” Van der Kraan told the Daily Mail. “But I am looking at him in every interview, and on the touchline, to try and discover if there is a change in his behaviour, character or actions.

“I know him really well, and I have to say, there is not the slightest change. He is calm, composed, absolutely not in panic mode, exactly how I know him. And I do not expect him to panic either, or to change.

“This guy is so confident about what he is doing. This makes me think he will turn it around. I don’t have doubts. The only managers I know with the same self-confidence are Cruyff and Guardiola.

“I worked (as a football writer) closely with Cruyff in the 1980s and 1990s and could not believe how cool he was under any circumstances. And all three… Cruyff, Pep, Arne, have this same style of football.”

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Slot, Van Dijk speak out on Liverpool sack reports

Explaining the comparison, Van der Kraan continued: “They love all this building up, tiki taka some call it, but lots of movement and high pressure. And all three of them have always realised you get punished now and again. A massive counter-attack defeat, exposed by the space behind the defence on the halfway line.

“It happened to Cruyff with Ajax and Barca, it happened to Pep and it happened to Arne. Don’t forget Arne is a massive fan of the Cruyff school. They just accept these moments, however, for Arne, it is going on too long of course, now. That is what makes it tense.

“But he won’t change a thing.”

With Liverpool fans showing their support for Slot by chanting his name, it very much seemed the Slot noise in the media was exactly that – and our reporter Dean Jones was adamant that the plan was always to stick by the Dutchman.

Slot, himself, was always grateful for the

“The support I got again is something that makes this club special. Fans chanting for me was great, it helped a lot.

“It was when we were in a difficult situation as a club and team, it is also difficult for me,” he admitted.

Van Dijk, meanwhile, addressed the sack speculation directly and commented: “Yeah, well, obviously I’ve heard the reports as well about him being under pressure and stuff, but I don’t think we play at the club that do the rushed decisions.

“I think we all felt, and I think you all can agree on that, that we can work our way out of this. Obviously, it’s not a guarantee, but we can do it together.

“As long as we believe, as long as we stay humble and keep working, I feel like we can do it. We all have that feeling. We have to keep going, and obviously, you never know what happens, it’s football, this is the life we live. But we have to keep going, and I feel like internally there’s no doubt that we can do this together.”

On the key factors that allowed them to return to winning ways on Saturday night, he added: “I think it was just a good performance. I think we worked very hard in defending as a team, guys up front, midfield, back line, goalie. That was obviously key to the clean sheet, so that helps massively, and we have the quality to score goals and just a win ,and now we move on.

“Yeah, it’s a team thing, isn’t it? You need everyone to be at their best to win games, and obviously today I think we played a solid game and we got the well-deserved three points. Now we go home, recover, and we focus on Real Madrid.”

Latest Liverpool news: Trent on Anfield return; bad news for Harvey Elliott

Meanwhile, Trent Alexander-Arnold has admitted he faces an exciting but difficult return to Anfield as the Reds prepare to welcome their former full-back with his new Real Madrid side on Tuesday night.

Explaining whether he will celebrate if he scores, we’ve looked at how the Anfield crowd will react to Alexander-Arnold upon his return.

Elsewhere, speculation is rife that Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has no intention of playing Liverpool loanee Harvey Elliott again, in order to avoid triggering a conditional obligation to buy clause.

Finally, the Reds now face shock new competition for Marc Guehi from Manchester United – and the likely outcome of the transfer saga for the Crystal Palace star has now been revealed.

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