Arne Slot is excited about the potential impact of the latest new members of his Liverpool backroom staff.
The former Feyenoord boss has been steadily building his behind-the-scenes team since being hired as Jurgen Klopp’s Anfield successor earlier this summer.
Slot brought trusted assistant Sipke Hulshoff with him from the Eredivisie giants, with lead physical performance coach Ruben Peeters and head of first-team goalkeeper coaching Fabian Otte also swapping Rotterdam for Merseyside.
Earlier this month, Liverpool also announced that former Everton defender John Heitinga had joined as assistant coach following his departure from West Ham, while Aaron Briggs was appointed as first-team individual development coach after spells with Wolfsburg, Blackpool, Preston, Manchester City and Monaco.
And Slot is thrilled with the latest additions to his backroom staff that bring crucial knowledge of the English top-flight.
“Premier League experience,” Slot said on Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the USA when asked what Heitinga and Briggs will bring to the club.
“Both of them have worked in the Premier League – John more recent than Aaron. Both of them, of course, have their own role in our staff.
“I think I said it before that Aaron is also the one that is going to bridge the gap between the youth academy and the first team. He has an analyst background, so that's a positive thing.
“And John has played many games in the Premier League and last season he was an assistant coach at West Ham, so he brings experience as a player but also as an assistant in this league.
“And he worked with someone that I know really well and the two of us have quite a similar playing style, so I think it's not going to take long for him to understand exactly what we want with the players.”
It remains to be seen if Liverpool will make any further backroom additions under Slot in the near future, with Feyenoord’s Etienne Reijnen not joining his old boss at Anfield.
The club had many roles to fill after the exit of Klopp was followed by the departures of assistants Pep Lijnders and Peter Krawietz, plus Vitor Matos, Andreas Kornmayer, John Achterberg, Jack Robinson and Andreas Schlumberger.
