Who is Arne Slot? Liverpool's next manager tactics, stats, trophies, age and formation

Liverpool will soon welcome Arne Slot to Anfield as the club prepares for life after Jurgen Klopp.

The Reds have reached an agreement for Slot to become Klopp's successor this summer, kick-starting a new era after nine years of the German at the helm.

Slot is not a name that was featured alongside the likes of Xabi Alonso, Roberto De Zerbi and Ruben Amorim when it first became clear Klopp would be leaving, ensuring his impending appointment has taken many supporters by surprise.

As Reds prepare to welcome Slot to Merseyside, we have broken down some of the key details on the 45-year-old below.

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Who has Arne Slot coached during his career?

Slot enjoyed a playing career in his home country of The Netherlands, representing FC Zwolle, NAC Breda, Sparta Rotterdam and PEC Zwolle before hanging up his boots in 2013. He made over 450 appearances across 18 years and claimed the Dutch second-tier title twice with FC Zwolle.

After retiring from football in 2013, Slot joined Zwolle's coaching staff and worked as a youth coach for a year before taking charge of Cambuur. Initially joining as an assistant to Henk de Jong, the opportunity arose to take interim charge of the team in 2016 and helped the club climb from 14th to third in the second tier, narrowly missing out on promotion to the Eredivisie. Cambuur also reached the semi-finals of the Dutch Cup that season, knocking out Ajax on their way to the final four, though failed to make the final after losing on penalties to AZ Alkmaar.

The following year, in 2017, Slot ended up at Alkmaar as an assistant and helped the club to third and fourth in the league before being appointed manager in 2019. During his first season at the helm, AZ were level on points with Ajax after 25 matches played but the remainder of the league was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic and no champion was crowned. He left the club in December 2020 with an average of 2.11 points per game during his time as coach, the highest number of any manager in Alkmaar's history.

Slot's next stop was Feyenoord and progress was instantly delivered to the club, reaching the final of the UEFA Conference League in his first season. Last campaign (2022/23), the 45-year-old guided Feyenoord to the Eredivisie title, the semi-finals of the Dutch cup and the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

This term, Slot claimed the Dutch cup after defeating NEC Nijmegen in the final but missed out on the title to PSV Eindhoven.

How many trophies has Arne Slot won as a manager?

Slot has won two major honours as a coach: the Eredivisie (2022/23) and KNVB Cup (2023/24). He will be hoping to add to this list as Liverpool boss...

What formation does Arne Slot like to play?

Slot's favoured system is 4-2-3-1, with a double pivot, one No.10, two wingers and a central striker. It is understood Pep Guardiola and Roberto De Zerbi have been two major influence on his career and the way he likes his teams to play.

One thing that is clear is the 45-year-old does not enjoy football considered to be negative, Jose Mourinho being a prime example of this.

When facing against AS Roma in the quarter-finals of last season's Europa League, Slot was involved in a heated exchange with Mourinho and made clear he did not enjoy the way his team operated.

The two clubs had gone head-to-head in the previous year's Europa Conference League final and were paired up against each other once again last term as they both battled for a place in the last four of Europe's second-tier competition.

Stirring things up when asked if he had been watching many of Roma's matches in preparation for this two-legged tie, Slot responded: “Their style of football achieves results, but I prefer to watch Manchester City and Napoli. I’m very honest on that.”

How good is Arne Slot? What has been said about him

Bert Konterman (technical manager at PEC Zwolle when Slot was a player): "I got the impression Slot was watching FC Barcelona all day and night. He was watching the positional play, the way they took on free-kicks. When he arrived at the club the next morning, he was so excited what he had seen!”

Jurgen Klopp: “I like the way his team play football. All the things I hear about him as a guy, a good guy. Some people I know, know him, I don’t know him yet. Some people tell me that he is a really good guy. I like that a lot. Good coach, good guy. I am looking forward for the club if he is the solution or the man. I’m more than happy. It’s not up to me to judge these things but it all sounds really good to me."

Virgil van Dijk: "I find it difficult to answer it now, of course. But I think Arne Slot might be one of the better Dutch coaches at this moment. I think the way he plays and the philosophy he has that he could be a Liverpool coach. Only in my opinion, what I also read and hear, of course, is that it is far from finalised. We will see. Next year we will focus on that."

Reiss Nelson (Arsenal forward): “Holland was great for me. I felt like Arne Slot is a great manager. He really got me into my rhythm. He gave me a lot of opportunities to play and I excelled. It was really cool, like I said we got to the final. It was just the little things with the personal life, not my family around, the Corona situation. So it was a bit tough. But football-wise, it was perfect.”

Alireza Jahanbakhsh (former Brighton forward, now of Feyenoord): "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."

And how does Slot view himself? "I don’t want to compare myself with Pep at all, but he’s a control freak just like me,” he previously told Voetbal International.

“If I look at myself, I want to win a match during the week before kick-off. I try to imprint the chosen tactic to my players as much as I can. “That’s why I can be very frustrated when a referee even makes the slightest mistake to your disadvantage. This can have so much influence while you’re not able to control anything. All preparation can be ruined because of a referee mistake. This can be my biggest frustration!

“Guardiola gives me the ultimate pleasure in football. I’d rather watch Manchester City than any other team in the world, although now I enjoy watching Napoli, Arsenal and Brighton as well.

“I don’t want to compare Feyenoord with City, but we more or less play football according to the same philosophy: 4-3-3, building up from the back, wanting to put pressure on the opponent rather quickly. There are quite a few similarities of which I think: can I steal some of this? But I always make sure that it fits with my own players.”

Who will Arne Slot be bringing with him to Liverpool?

The full list of who Slot will be bringing with him is yet to be confirmed, though it is expected to include his assistant Sipke Hulshoff and current Feyenoord head of performance, Ruben Peeters.

It is also anticipated analyst and technical advisor Etienne Reijnen will also be heading to Anfield alongside Slot.