Virgil van Dijk believes Liverpool found the “perfect match” for their tight-knit, experienced squad when appointing Arne Slot as Jürgen Klopp’s successor.
Slot’s stunning start continued on Sunday with a dominant win against Manchester City, who trail the Premier League leaders by 11 points with just over a third of the season gone. The 46-year-old has won 90% of his matches, including against the champions of Europe and of England in the space of five days, to take Liverpool top of the Premier League and Champions League.
Van Dijk admits Slot inherited a squad full of quality and spirit from Klopp but says the head coach takes credit for making the difficult task of replacing a club legend look seamless.
The Liverpool captain said: “I think the step from, with all respect, the Dutch league to the Premier League is a big one in terms of being a player but for a manager it is exactly the same. He has done very well so far and he has, in my opinion, inherited a very good squad not only as football players but as human beings – guys who will go to war for each other – and I think he has been so far so good.
“It was always going to be difficult to replace Jürgen for everything he did for us, as players and for the club. But he has done it his own way together with the staff, and made sure we have the quality to improve and win games. He makes sure we keep working, are not satisfied and focus on what is ahead of us next and keep improving. You see the patterns we try to do, you see we can change in games or at half-time and it’s obviously a big credit to him.”
Van Dijk insists Slot’s style and character are ideal for a Liverpool team also prospering thanks to stability and experience on the playing side. “I think the club decided this could be the perfect match for the group here,” the defender said.
“He made one addition in terms of Federico [Chiesa] but apart from that the group has been very tight, and over the years we have worked together and been through so much together that they thought this could be a good match on and off the pitch. We have the players to play how he wants to play but still we have to execute it well. We still have things to improve. In games we have struggled sometimes but we have found a way, found answers to difficult moments, and that is key to winning games.”
Liverpool will be without Ibrahima Konaté, Conor Bradley and Kostas Tsimikas when visiting Newcastle on Wednesday and Everton on Saturday and the trio could miss the hectic festive schedule. Konaté is on crutches after sustaining a knee injury against Real Madrid. The first-choice goalkeeper, Alisson, has been a long-term absentee but is nearing a return.
Van Dijk said of Liverpool’s lead in the Premier League: “It feels solid. It feels that we are making good steps. I want to be there at the end of the season – that’s the aim – and we can’t think about what’s there in January or February. Now it’s Newcastle and doing everything in our power to be ready for a big one there as well.”
