Arne Slot's Pep Guardiola comments speak volumes as Liverpool boss speaks for first time

New Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has acknowledged that he has been influenced by Manchester City's Pep Guardiola as he prepares to do battle with the legendary manager next season.

With the former Feyenoord man now having been officially unveiled in the Reds hotseat, he will soon be expected to draw up his masterplan for dethroning the reigning Premier League champions next term. After landing the top job with the Merseysiders, the 45-year-old has confessed that his playing style has been directly inspired by his rival down the East Lancashire Road, with City's manager having delivered six league titles in his time in England.

In his inaugural interview in his new job at Liverpool, the incoming boss has explained how his football philosophy has been formulated down the years. Name-checking the storied team under Guardiola at Barcelona between 2008 and 2012 which conquered Europe twice, Slot was honest in acknowledging the impact that the iconic side containing Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta had on him as a coach.

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Revealing his key influences, the Liverpool coach said: "I am 45 now and [have been] watching football for a long time and watching football a lot, and I think this has been an era where everybody looked at the Barcelona side of Xavi [Hernandez], [Andres] Iniesta and [Lionel] Messi and the rivalry there was between Real Madrid with Cristiano Ronaldo being there.

"And I think when that came to an end, the new rivalry in European football came because of Jürgen – he managed Liverpool and Pep Guardiola, of course, managed Manchester City and I think for everyone who loves football it was a fantastic era to watch the both of them getting the best out of each other."

The one-time Eredivisie winner also confirmed that he has been doing his homework before taking up his new post as he discussed watching the Reds in action even before landing the job. He explained: "I have seen a lot of games of Liverpool, a lot of games of City as well, and when you live in Europe the Premier League is probably the nicest league to follow.

"So, yeah, he has done a tremendous job over here and I am really happy with that as a fan, but now as his successor he left Liverpool in the best possible way, I think," Slot continued, as he paid tribute to the team he will inherit, adding: "So, a very good team, the fans are very good as well, so [I am] looking forward to it."

Also speaking about his style of play has been inspired by his predecessor at Anfield, alongside newfound rival Guardiola, the Dutchman said: It is my style but I think it is the style of many modern coaches at the moment: we were all a bit inspired because of the rivalry between City and Liverpool.

We were all inspired by Guardiola and Klopp and I think at a big club, which I worked in in Feyenoord as well, it is probably the only style you can play – to have the ball a lot, to have a lot of energy, and I think also now there are comparisons between the club I left behind and the club I am going to work for now.

He added: "Both [sets of] fans love to see a team that wants to do everything to win a game and if things are tough they try to do everything to turn the game around and I think that has been done by Liverpool many times and I think that has been done by my former side Feyenoord many times as well."