'I find it very difficult to accept' - Sam Allardyce speaks out on Arne Slot style of play at Liverpool

Sam Allardyce has been awestruck by Arne Slot since accepting 'the biggest job in the country' - replacing Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. What's more, the former Everton and England manager can't understand why the Dutchman's style of play would be the target for any sort of criticism.

The Reds resume their early-season conquest with a trip to Southampton on Sunday. As they sit top of both the Premier League and Champions League tables, plus have made it to the Carabao Cup's last eight, were their near-faultless record to continue beyond the November international break, there would be justified reason to get excited about the prospect of silverware.

A slight shift in tactics to adjust the way Liverpool press and defend as a unit have facilitated 15 wins from 17 outings under Slot, even at the expense of replicating that 'heavy metal', relentless attacking style Klopp utilised to achieve his successes.

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"I listen to talkSPORT a lot and I’ve heard a few Liverpool fans saying it's not the same, and saying that it's not the football that Jurgen Klopp gave us. I had a look at the stats and they're not that great, but they're still winning," Allardyce told Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast.

"He’s looking at how to project a win or how to change to get a win. He's sacrificing some of that overplay to make sure he wins a football match."

Ultimately impressed with these tweaks, the ex-Everton and Three Lions coach argued: "I find it very difficult to accept a Liverpool fan criticising him when he had the biggest job in the country this year, replacing Jurgen Klopp.

"You look at how many managers have been brought in to replace top managers, like Sir Alex at Man Utd. Man City's transition has been pretty good, but Pep [Guardiola] struggled in his first year until he got to grips with it. Arsenal struggled for a long time when trying to replace Arsene Wenger.

"So when you've got a job like that, Arne Slot's doing a magnificent job, And it looks like the players are enjoying it."

And the passion of players like Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk attests to Allardyce's thoughts. Even if they are both out of contract at the end of the term, the leaders within the squad have stepped up to take Liverpool where they are now.

The same can be said for those that follow by example, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, Ibrahima Konate and Ryan Gravenberch just a handful who have displayed vast improvement in their own departments. Coming out of the final international break towards the festive period, the Reds will quickly discover the weight of the challenge ahead with Real Madrid and Man City visiting Anfield within the space of four days.