Liverpool are currently top of both the Premier League and Champions League
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Liverpool's Dutch coach Arne Slot gives a press conference on the eve of the UEFA Champions League football match between Girona and Liverpool, at the Montilivi stadium in Girona on December 9, 2024. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP) (Photo by JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)
Liverpool boss Arne Slot has won 19 of his 22 matches in charge
(Image: JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)
Legendary Dutch footballer Ruud Gullit has said he has been left impressed by the tactical tweaks Arne Slot has made at Liverpool since succeeding Jurgen Klopp as head coach.
The Dutchman has overseen a record-breaking start to life at Anfield, with the Reds currently top of both the Premier League and Champions League and having won 19 of their 22 matches across all competitions this season.
Slot, though, is largely working with the same squad - plus sole summer signing Federico Chiesa - that his predecessor had at his disposal during his final season at the club as Liverpool finished third in the Premier League and won the Carabao Cup.
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However, there has been a slight shift in approach this term under Slot, with the Reds priding themselves on defensive stability rather than the heavy metal football that became the blueprint of Klopp's nine-year reign on Merseyside.
And two-time European Cup winner Gullit, who knows all about the difficulties of the Premier League as both a player and a manager, says he has been in awe of the seamless transition his compatriot has made to life at Anfield.
"The most important thing is he didn't want to change anything so much. He just wanted to play with the same format, he just changed a little bit in the sense that Klopp was all bombing forward the whole time. And he is in the middle of him [Klopp] and Pep Guardiola," said Gullit on beIN Sports.
"Sometimes he plays pressing, sometimes he retreats. So, therefore, there is much more variation in it because there were moments where we thought, 'Difficult day today for Liverpool' and nevertheless, they get out of jail because of these magic moments of players they have."
Should results go Liverpool's way on Wednesday night in the Champions League, then Slot's side could find themselves qualified for the round-of-16 stage with January's matches against Lille and PSV Eindhoven to spare.
In the Premier League, meanwhile, the Reds are four points clear of second-place Chelsea, though they have a game in hand on the Londoners.