The ECHO's post-match talking point from Qarabag as Paul Gorst assesses where Arne Slot's job security lies
Arne Slot has been defending his Liverpool record
Arne Slot has been defending his Liverpool record
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The seemingly increasing number of people hoping for a change in the Anfield dugout did not exactly get their wish with the news of Jurgen Klopp impending return on Thursday.
The iconic former manager will be back on his old stamping ground later this year, it was confirmed, but the emotional comeback will only be as part of the Liverpool Legends contingent, as he gets set to act as Sir Kenny Dalglish's right-hand man against former club Borussia Dortmund in a charity match for LFC Foundation in March.
As always, there was more to the headlines of 'Klopp's Anfield Return' but the prospect of the 2019 Champions League winner back on Merseyside might not exactly be ideal timing for Arne Slot, who it remains fair to describe as 'embattled' in his current role.
After Wednesday night's 6-0 hammering of Azerbaijan side Qarabag, Slot went somewhat on the offensive, insisting that qualification to the last 16 of the Champions League for the second successive season is nothing to be sneezed at for a club who, two years ago, were being taken apart in the Europa League by Atalanta.
The decision to reference that 3-0 reverse at Anfield in March 2024, during a period where Klopp's hopes of silverware in his closing months at the club started to unravel, was curious. And while he referred to it as "we", Slot, plainly, hadn't nothing to do with it.
"It's what you want if you start the Champions League season – you want to finish top eight," Slot began. "That helps, of course, because you skip a round and sometimes you can have a really hard team to play against in a round like that, which is shown by the teams you just mentioned.
"So, we are happy that we are going straight away to the last 16, especially because it's only two years ago that we were playing Europa League and we went out in the quarter-finals against Atalanta.
"So, two seasons in a row now being in the last 16, and last season we were very hungry for more and we will definitely be hungry for more this season as well."
If it was an attempt at re-calibrating how his achievements are viewed during this particularly difficult period of his reign, it seemed to backfire. Plenty felt it was an unnecessary dig at the man he succeeded, even if there was almost certainly little intent to demean how the final weeks of a celebrated period under Klopp started to wane.
Slot will have been more entitled to talk up his own European record as Liverpool boss in a different way. For coaches who have overseen a minimum of 10 games, the Reds boss now has the best win rate at a single club in the history of the Champions League, which stands at 77.7%.
And if the troubles at Premier League level leave the doubters unconvinced about their capacity to bring home a seventh European Cup, it's worth reflecting on Slot's record further.
Liverpool, as the Dutchman needs no encouragement to remind, were only dumped out of last year's competition on penalties by a Paris Saint-Germain side who went on to win the entire tournament; while earning widespread plaudits as the finest team on the continent.
Meanwhile, Slot and his players have enjoyed impressive, statement-style victories over Real Madrid (twice), Bayer Leverkusen, Inter, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and PSG, who they triumphed over in the first leg in Paris.
In the 16 group games played across the last two seasons, Liverpool have won 13 and collected 39 points from a possible 48. Clearly, wherever you stand on the problems that have blighted their Premier League title defence, Slot's team remain a force on the continent.
The issues have been rooted solely in the domestic game and their flakiness at the robust and physical nature of English football's cutting edge and while many will argue with plenty of conviction that the league is this club's "bread and butter" Slot may have inadvertently found an ally in Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon this week, ironically, a player who will be aiming to do damage at Anfield this weekend.
“I think in the Champions League teams are much more open," Gordon said when asked to describe the differences. "They all try and play. It’s less transitional. I think in the Premier League it’s become more physical than I’ve ever known it to be.“It’s like a basketball game sometimes, it’s so relentless physically. There’s not much control, it’s just a running game. Sometimes it’s about duels, who wins the duels wins the game, or moments. The Champions League is a bit more of an older style of game, it’s a bit more football-based, teams come and try and play proper football.”
Slot may surmise that Gordon has a point but that doesn't mean he is absolved from finding the antidote. The Champions League has unquestionably helped Liverpool this season but with the knockout stages now a distant six weeks away, the Reds boss has to find an answer to the gnawing issues on home soil.
Something special could be brewing with regards to the Champions League this term but working out the kinks domestically is what really takes precedent now.