Arne Slot mightn’t have necessarily been top of many Liverpool fans’ wish lists when the process of finding a successor to Jurgen Klopp began, although he’s been the recipient of a ringing endorsement from one of his players.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh might be a familiar name to football fans in this country, having previousy played for Brighton (but only scored twice in the Premier League) and come up against England at the 2022 World Cup in Iran’s 6-2 defeat to the Three Lions.
The Feyenoord winger also worked under the 45-year-old when the latter was an assistant coach at AZ Alkmaar, and he’s in doubt as to the credentials of the Reds’ prospective next manager.
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The 30-year-old has said (via Daily Star): “During my time at AZ, as assistant coach, Arne Slot was one of the people who helped me to become a better player, so when he called and asked if I wanted to come to Feyenoord, I told him I was going to do everything I could to make this transfer. I had no doubts.”
Jahanbakhsh also said of his current boss: “He is one of the best managers I’ve ever seen. In football terms, even the best. At the moment, he is the best in the Netherlands.”
With a managerial CV which doesn’t extend beyond AZ and Feyenoord, some Liverpool fans on social media appear sceptical of Slot’s credentials to take on the task of immediately following on from the legendary Klopp.
However, a statistical chart from The Athletic shows that his side rank among the top 10% in Europe’s seven highest-ranked leagues for a series of key metrics, including both chance creation and prevention, ball retention, defensive intensity and the successful application of a high line.
Dutch journalist Martijn Krabbendam has previously said that the 45-year-old’s teams are ‘very aggresive’ and ‘play with a lot of energy’, much like the Reds under their current boss, while he’s also cited Pep Guardiola as a major coaching influence (The Athletic).
Jahanbakhsh mightn’t have made too much of an impression at Brighton, but he’s fared considerably better under Slot’s tuition at Feyenoord and particularly AZ (Transfermarkt), and that apparent ability to improve players could sit well at Liverpool, where Klopp has turned many good footballers into genuine superstars.
Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes won’t be swayed by external opinions, although the Iranian’s testimony might strike a chord with them to some degree in the managerial selection process, as well as Reds fans who are still trying to evaluate the Dutchman.
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