It would be easy to be negative about yesterday, if you wanted to be. You could point to Liverpool’s entirely passive performance in the second-half, for example, and wonder whether more could’ve been done to try to find the second goal that would’ve taken the game away from West Ham United. You could have been concerned about what, exactly, Arne Slot has been doing with his players all week when you consider that many of the same problems that we’ve seen in recent times were evident in the way that we played during the second 45. Questions could be asked about the Dutchman’s insistence on playing Diogo Jota in a role in which he is less useful than a chocolate teapot. If you wanted to be particularly critical, you could wonder what has happened to Virgil van Dijk’s form in recent weeks, given the fact that he’s been at the scene of the crime for most of the goals that we’ve conceded. You could also point to Andy Robertson yet again looking slightly off the boil.
VIRGIL VAN DIJK 💥
Captain. Leader. Liverpool.
#LFC move one step closer to the Premier League title.
— The Athletic (@theathletic.bsky.social) 13 April 2025 at 15:58
But all of that would be needlessly churlish. Winning a Premier League isn’t easy. That can be demonstrated by the fact that this will be just the second title that Liverpool have won since 1992, having come close in the past but just missed out for a myriad of reasons. The fact that when we did win it we did so by putting our foot on the throttle and disappearing into the distance, winning enough points before the league was suspended to secure the title even if we’d stopped playing then and everyone else had been allowed to carry on, might have fooled some people about what winning a title takes. For as long as I can remember, the adage used to be ‘winning whilst not playing well is a sign of champions’. That shows you that all teams struggle when it gets to the nitty-gritty of getting it over the line, which has been forgotten thanks to the manner that 130 Charges FC have won titles in recent years. As you saw from Rory McIlroy’s putt on the 18th yesterday, things get tense when victory is so close.
What Slot is About to Achieve is Remarkable
There is an extent to which what Arne Slot is about to accomplish has been played down by many. The Dutch coach is within six points of claiming the Premier League title at the first time of asking. Unlike many other managers, he has not managed in England prior to this season, nor has he spent a huge amount of money assembling the squad that he knows can play his way. Instead, he has arrived in an entirely alien country and taken over a squad that belonged to someone else, had little time to work with it thanks to the fact that there was a tournament in the summer, signed just one player, who I think was brought in more because Richard Hughes saw value there, and is about to win the league in impressive style. There have been other managers who have won the Premier League at the first time of asking. José Mourinho did in 2004-2005, for example, having spent an eye-watering amount of money to do so. Carlo Ancelotti also won it with Chelsea five years later, building on the money spent by others.
No one had Liverpool winning the league. To replace Klopp and deliver the league title is a tremendous achievement. Bet Slot can’t believe it himself. What a foundation and start for the Dutchman.
— stevemcveigh.bsky.social (@stevemcveigh.bsky.social) 6 April 2025 at 13:10
In 2013-2014, Manuel Pellegrini stopped Brendan Rodgers from winning the league with 130 Charges FC, but we all know exactly what went on there in terms of spending money and potentially breaking Premier League rules, so that one can also be ignored. Then there was Antonio Conte three years later, but that was back at Chelsea and therefore can easily be ignored on account of the money spent putting the squad together as well as giving each manager exactly what he needed to accomplish the title win. The only manager whose achievement can be compared is Claudio Ranieri, but I’m going to talk about him in more detail shortly. Slot arrived at Anfield with little fanfare and even less expectation. The Dutch coach wasn’t the kind of inspiring figure that Jürgen Klopp had been before him, but if Klopp was Bill Shankly then Slot seems happy to play the Bob Paisley role. It isn’t about being bombastic or making it all about him, instead quietly getting on with the job and winning.
Tinkerman the Only Real Comparison
If you want to find an example of a manager whose accomplishments not only compare to what Arne Slot has managed but arguably outstrips it, then you need look no further than Claudio Ranieri. The Italian became known as ‘the Tinkerman’ by the English press, largely because he committed the unforgivable crime of making regular substitutions when he was Chelsea manager. He turned up at a Leicester City side that had finished 14th the season prior, just six points clear of the relegation zone and lucky not to go down. There was zero sense that the Foxes were likely to challenge for the Premier League title, which was reflected in the fact that they were given odds of 5,000/1 by the bookmakers before a ball was kicked. One way in which he differed from Slot was in the signings that Leicester made in the summer, with players like Christian Fuchs, Robert Huth and N’Golo Kanté all being brought in; although it’s fair to say that none of them were names other clubs were clamouring for.
I remember when everyone was outraged at Leicester for sacking Nigel Pearson and then Ranieri went on to win the league.
— Cockonball (@cockonball.coys.social) 13 November 2024 at 11:30
Although he made signings, it still wasn’t the case that the Foxes were being seen as anything other than likely relegation fodder. That, of course, is not all that comparable to the situation that Liverpool found themselves in at the start of the season. The Reds weren’t fancied by any of the major pundits, with many struggling to even say that we’d finish in the top four. Even a lot of Liverpool fans decided that the wheels would come off in the absence of Jürgen Klopp, believing that Fenway Sports Group’s ownership style would be ‘found out’ as a result. Yet that isn’t the same as the club being 5,000/1 outsiders and many believing that they would be more likely to be relegated than to finish in the top-half of the table. Little wonder, therefore, that the incredible, impossible, unlikely campaign that Claudio Ranieri orchestrated at Leicester City in 2015-2016 will be considered one of the best that the English top-flight has ever seen. This one won’t be that, but Slot’s accomplishment is nearly as remarkable as that of his Italian counterpart.
