Arne Slot replaced Jurgen Klopp as the Liverpool manager this summer and has been able to work magic with the Premier League side.
The former Feyenoord manager has stationed Liverpool on top of the Premier League, four points clear at the top – with a game in hand – while they are also cruising to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 with a 100% record in Europe.
Slot has now revealed that Jurgen Klopp’s gesture during his Liverpool farewell has helped to fuel his exceptional start to life at Anfield.
“That has a lot to do with having the quality players we have,” Slot told TNT Sports.
“There’s no manager in the world that can be successful without having quality players, unless you’re facing teams that don’t have quality players; in the Premier League everybody has, you need to have a quality squad.”
Slot added: “I think it helped me as well the way Jurgen said farewell. He immediately set me off to a good start with what he did for me in the stadium.
“And then the most important thing is winning games, because no matter how you look, or no matter how nice you are, if you are nice or if you are good-looking – which is a question mark for me!
“But, then it all depends on your results. If you don’t win, it’s very hard to be popular with the fans, so that’s why the triangle [of fans, players and manager] is really good at the moment.
“We’ve experienced this at Anfield against [Manchester] City and [Real] Madrid especially.”
Girona will host Liverpool at Estadi Montilivi in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, December 10 and the Reds will be eager to make it six wins from six games in the competition.
