‘He keeps a clear head’: how Slot’s last slump offers blueprint for Liverpool revival

Just over five weeks after Arne Slot’s Feyenoord had lost a tight Conference League final by a goal to Roma in 2022, they suffered a 7-0 home defeat by Copenhagen in their first pre-season friendly. Some of the Dutch club’s internationals were on holiday, seven of their starters from the final would leave that summer and Copenhagen were well ahead in preparations, but even so, the scoreline was bruising. It felt as if Slot had to start all over again. “I can remember it like yesterday,” says Marino Pusic, Slot’s assistant at Feyenoord and earlier at AZ. “The score could have been even higher – that says enough.” Copenhagen’s then coach, Jess Thorup, described it as more akin to “a training session than an actual friendly match”. Two weeks later a stronger Feyenoord side lost 4-0 to the Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise. Then came home defeats by Lyon and Osasuna. After Liverpool were well beaten by Manchester City in their most recent game, a scarcely imaginable seventh defeat in 10 matches, it was easy to imagine Slot was grappling for the first time with a slump and a rebuild. The coach’s smooth rise from Cambuur to Anfield, via AZ and Feyenoord, has delivered trophies and awards. How capable is he of digging a struggling team out of a hole? Feyenoord brushed off their summer of strife to win the Eredivisie, and if retaining the Premier League title looks beyond Slot, Pusic believes his former boss has the skills to turn around Liverpool’s season, which resumes at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Related: Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend “It was worrying,” Pusic says, casting his mind back to Feyenoord’s troubles. “But once you recognise the cause, you know how to act and turn it around … Throughout the process we stayed cool, no unnecessary emotions. Arne is brilliant at that: he keeps a clear head, analyses things deeply and turns conclusions into action. “No one gave us any chance of winning the league that season. And yet the pieces slowly started to fall into place. We were proactive, brought in the right players – even though we had very little money – and, most of all, did the work on the training pitch, where we could improve and develop the players.” He sees parallels at Liverpool, where Slot is integrating several summer signings: “People often forget that the group dynamic is crucial. Bringing in five or six new players can throw the balance off temporarily. The group only starts functioning properly again once they can find a new rhythm, but before then they go through different phases. That goes beyond tactics or technique; it just takes time for the group to find its cohesion.” The evolution of Liverpool’s squad was overshadowed by the death of Diogo Jota and Pusic says the impact will have been bigger than many realise. He dealt with grief within his team soon after he left Feyenoord in 2023 to manage Shakhtar Donetsk. “The brother of my first-choice goalkeeper had died in the war,” Pusic says. “At that moment, you’re dealing with completely different things than football. So much hits you at once. “Diogo was incredibly important for them, both on and off the pitch. He was a teammate but also a close friend to many players, who could lean on each other for support. And then you suddenly lose that person in such a terrible way. It has a huge impact on everyone at the club, especially the squad. During the season, these things may fade a bit into the background, but they linger, and at difficult moments they can resurface.” Liverpool, as champions, have also had to adapt to a different approach from opponents, Pusic says: “You’re no longer the one chasing but the team being chased. That’s a big difference, also mentally, because you can’t win matches purely through tactics; you also need to win matches based on other emotional elements. The question is how you deal with this within the team. Who takes the initiative now, and who assumes which leadership roles? Those are the deeper layers of coaching, and they’re crucial.” Pusic, the manager of Al Jazira Club in Abu Dhabi, knows Slot does not shy from responsibilities. “He is very adept at analysing them and being honest about them,” he says. “He is genuine, tells it exactly how it is.” In recent months, Slot has been frank about Liverpool’s vulnerabilities, including to long balls. He will have been working on new strategies, which take time to refine, according to Pusic. “If the opponent’s tactic is to play it long and focus on the second ball, then you have to adjust based on different elements. Who engages in the duel? Who goes to the second ball?” Two years ago Slot talked about his methods in Ronald Giphart’s book Het beste van jezelf (The best of yourself), including outlining his detailed video work with players. “I’m constantly thinking about how we can further improve,” he said. “For example, by finding out how our next opponent applies pressure and how we could deal with that … You can’t win a match purely through analysis. Luck has to be on your side too, and everything comes down to fine margins, but from the outset I focus heavily on the analytical side. And on relationships, for example by having individual conversations with everyone.” Liverpool’s poor league start reminds Pusic of one other challenging moment in Slot’s career, during his second season with AZ. They drew their first five games, having finished the previous, unfinished coronavirus season second only on goal difference to Ajax. “That brought pressure with it, as we wanted to compete at the top of the Eredivisie, and it weighed on Arne,” Pusic says. “But it’s not comparable with the scrutiny at the top of the Premier League.” AZ got back to winning ways and Liverpool appeared to have found the way up when they beat Aston Villa and Real Madrid before their defeat at City. “Everyone goes through periods like that,” Pusic says. “The question is: what core qualities do you have to get through them more quickly? In that respect, being able to stay composed under pressure is crucial and Arne has that ability.”