Inside Arne Slot's first year at Liverpool as dressing room reaction to first meeting revealed The ECHO gets the lowdown from a current player, a former team-mate and an ex-captain into how Arne Slot made Liverpool Premier League champions Arne Slot celebrating after being named Premier League champions at the end of match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Anfield on April 27, 2025 (Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images) ) In less than 12 months, Arne Slot has gone from being a relative unknown at Feyenoord to a Premier League-winning coach at Liverpool. It represents a stunning achievement for someone who only began his managerial career in 2016. Here, as part of our 48-page special standalone that is on sale now, the ECHO's Paul Gorst gets the views of a current player, an ex-team-mate and a former Liverpool captain to get the lowdown on how Slot did it and what it means at Anfield. ‌ THE PLAYER'S VIEW - ANDY ROBERTSON ‌ It was as early as the first meeting between Arne Slot and the Liverpool squad he inherited when he outlined his plan to become Premier League champions. Having replaced a manager as revered as the iconic Jurgen Klopp, it would have been easy to have urged caution and patience, particularly given qualification for the Champions League was viewed as an acceptable accomplishment for a coach who only a few knew much about this time last year. Neither Manchester United nor Arsenal, for example, were able to absorb the departures of Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger - two vaunted, patriarchal figures at their respective clubs - effectively and many were tipping Liverpool for a similar fate in a post-Klopp world. Article continues below But when Slot informed his players that their third-place finish of Klopp's final term could be improved upon on his watch, those with the big reputations in the dressing room were receptive. It struck a chord with those who really mattered. "I think the people outside the training ground had a different view to the people within it," says Andy Robertson. "I think we were still confident that we had pretty much still and Jurgen Klopp's squad that we thought was quality and obviously we didn't make too many signings and a lot was made of that but we knew we had the quality to do it. "I think the manager in his first meeting said we finished third last season and we want to do better than that, we want to finish first, so his aims were very clear from the start and they aligned with the rest of us. Then it was up to us to produce on the park. ‌ "Tactically he and his staff leave no stone unturned and I think they show that every day and I think you can see that out on the pitch. "So it is two very different characters but both had a driving force to win football matches and I think that is what the similarities were. Then the boys can get on board with that very easily and carry it out as best as we can and I think we have done that." Within a fanbase like Liverpool's, the manager is as much a spiritual guide as he is a tactician and few sets of supporters lionise those in the dugout in the way they do on Merseyside. It's why the exit of such a larger-than-life character like Klopp cut so deep when he walked away last year. ‌ It's fair to say the more reserved and understated Slot is a different personality to the charismatic Klopp and it's why so many were quick to liken the passing of the baton to that of Bill Shankly to Bob Paisley 50 years earlier. "Obviously the previous manager, you could see how he was such a big character and if he was here now he'd have everyone laughing and joking and you saw that over the years was at Liverpool," Robertson explains. "This manager is a bit more reserved off the field, a bit quieter and I think you can see the differences tactically too. He is a bit more patient at times and maybe some people think it hasn't been as exciting but we've won a lot of games with it, it's been efficient." ‌ THE FORMER TEAM-MATE'S VIEW - SANDER WESTERVELD Celebrate Liverpool's Premier League title win with perfect souvenir Relive Liverpool’s incredible 2024/25 title-winning season – the Reds’ 20th league crown and the first lifted in front of fans since 1990. From Arne Slot’s arrival to unforgettable wins over City, United, and more, follow every step of the journey. Featuring match reports, player spotlights, behind-the-scenes stories and iconic moments from a campaign to remember. Celebrate Liverpool's Premier League title win with the perfect souvenir by ordering a copy online today, just click here! A must-have 48-page keepsake for every Red. Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's fourth goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Anfield on April 27, 2025 (Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images ) And you can also order a copy of Monday's Liverpool ECHO celebrating Liverpool's triumph direct to your home on our online store. Liverpool ECHO front page. Liverpool champions. April 28, 2025 Slot was still basking in the glow of being appointed as the new head coach of Liverpool when his phone pinged with a short text from an old friend. ‌ Opening up the WhatsApp message from former Reds goalkeeper Sander Westerveld, the then Feyenoord boss was given a few words of congratulations that simply read: "Welcome to the club that is going to change your life." For those who have studied him since his arrival, it will be no surprise to hear that Slot initially tried to play down the significance of the job he had just taken on, but as the goalkeeper of the 2001 treble-winning side, Westerveld knew better, laying out exactly what would be in store for his old pal, if he got it right. "He was really looking forward to joining, of course, but he is a strange guy in that he downplays everything," Westerveld, who was Slot's team-mate at Sparta Rotterdam in the mid 2000s, tells the ECHO. "Every time I talked to him, it was like: 'Ah, you're making your debut at Anfield, are you excited?' and he was sort of like replying, saying 'yeah, you know, I have been in front of 50,000 people before at Feyenoord'. No, no, this is not the same. ‌ "Jurgen Klopp laid the foundations for him and for all the success as well and Arne comes in and he just changed little things, little tactics, a bit more compact defensively and he is putting a little bit of detail into his way of coaching. But for everybody it has been a perfect match." Westerveld recalls a studious sort when asked about Slot the player. Even in his playing days, the now Premier League-winning coach would often be emboldened to relay what he felt was the pertinent information to his colleagues during half-time team talks. Rather than undermine the managers in charge, though, Slot's opinion was actively sought, such was his eye for detail. Westerveld says: "Clarence Seedorf was fired a few times as a coach and was relegated, Jose Mourinho never had a big career and he went on to be the best coach in the world almost. Jurgen Klopp was similar, so you don't need to be the best player in the world to be the best coach. ‌ "Maybe if you ask him, the player he was: he was slow and a No.10. He had technique and tactical ability. But he wasn't fast, so if you don't have those things in a game, you have to be smart, you have to be positioned in the right way, you have to know where to be and more tactical awareness. And he focused on those things, so I think it definitely helped him in his coaching career that he wasn't a big player. "Sometimes players with big careers, big players, don't go on to be the best managers. Some of them just do other things, but this guy, he was going for coaching badges and I think he was still playing for Zwolle when he coached the Under-14s. So even during his playing career he was already coaching. "You don't see that with big players, so that really helped Arne. Not being the best in the world helped him be one of the best coaches in the world, which is what he is now. ‌ "Arne was not a name or a Mourinho, coming in. So it was like hardly anyone knew him, how could he talk to Mo Salah? And tell him what to do and then Salah has to listen to him but he had the confidence to do what he thinks is right. The way he communicates and talks to players, I have spoken to a few players and they all say the same thing, from the first meeting they didn't doubt him. "The players, after that first meeting, fully trusted him because they could see he knew his stuff. And Trent Alexander-Arnold came out and said a few times about the examples of them watching analysis videos and everyone knows how hard he works with all the details he puts in. He had examples of last season in games and he is also one of those people who tell you what is going to happen and what the opposition will do. "Manchester United was a great example where he said what he would do with Casemiro and then that happened [in the 3-0 win]. So when that happens once or twice, as a player you listen to everything he says and you can see that it is all actually happening just like he said it would." ‌ Such has been Slot's achievement, in fact, that Westerveld is moved to label Liverpool's record-equalling 20th championship as the club's most important, as they now sit level with historic rivals Manchester United. Westerveld adds: "I never expected him to win the league in his first year. It's just unbelievable and it is nearly a miracle by doing this. Also, it's the year we can be the club in England history, equal leagues with Manchester United, but also European and domestically, that is also amazing. "That's why this is the most important one. The Premier League this season, if you would have asked all the fans what they would like they would tell you this. He has done this now, so all credit to him." ‌ THE FORMER CAPTAIN'S VIEW - JAMIE REDKNAPP With over 308 Liverpool appearances across an 11-year career that eventually saw him graduate to club captain, Jamie Redknapp has played for and alongside some of the greats of the Premier League era at Anfield. ‌ The former England international made his debut for Graeme Souness, lifted silverware under Roy Evans and sat under the learning tree of Gerard Houllier before departing in 2002. And what he has seen from afar at Anfield under Slot is quite remarkable. "I can't lie, I have been blown away," Redknapp tells the ECHO. "I genuinely thought that following someone like Jurgen Klopp, football usually has a rule of thumb and trends, look at Manchester United and Arsenal and what has happened since they have lost icons of their clubs in Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, it's been really difficult. It's been a conveyor belt of managers. "Liverpool had such an icon in Klopp and he was more than a football manager, he was like part of the community, everyone loved him and he was so important to the people of the city. ‌ "Before I even knew Arne Slot, I thought it would be difficult and I thought he would do well to last a year. And I know Liverpool are always very patient with their managers and they are not the sort of club to make decisions on a whim, during the good times and the bad. They are always fair to their managers. "But Slot has been absolutely phenomenal, he has blown me away with how good he has been, I genuinely mean that. He is unassuming, calm and cool. And, you know, the Everton situation, I saw it both ways, I loved that he showed his teeth in the Merseyside derby, he was unhappy and he got angry and we love that side of it. "But I also loved the other part of it when he said he got it wrong, apologised and moved on. He didn't double down on it, show arrogance or anything like that. He showed humility and we have to do that and I think a lot of it goes too far now with the referees but he said sorry, and it felt genuine. Article continues below "Everything he has done has just been so good. I think maybe Jurgen felt last summer he had taken this team as far as he could. You look at that and Arne has said: 'OK, I'll raise you, we'll go and win the league this year'. And that is what he has done and it is absolutely frightening and an amazing season for him. "I like the way he has gone about it and I don't think any Liverpool fan would have felt it could have gone as well as this because I think I even said top four would be a great season and anything else was a bonus. So it's been amazing."