Liverpool’s vision revealed by Arne Slot and Ruben Amorim’s key difference
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The Reds considered the Portuguese coach, only to opt for the Dutch tactician, who has shone as Jurgen Klopp’s successor. Jurgen Klopp dropped his bombshell, he later revealed, in November 2023. In January 2024, he went public. Liverpool’s search for a manager could begin; not publicly, given their preference for doing their business as quietly as possible, but at least with one layer of secrecy removed.
![[Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has several issues to resolve in the new year]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/02/13/4873b85454220d9a9bdb9c0b559b62ecY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM1OTAwNjI4-2.78592274.jpg)
They were soon informed that Xabi Alonso was minded to stay at Bayer Leverkusen for another year. To many in the wider world, Sporting CP’s Ruben Amorim assumed a status as the frontrunner after that. Not so, Liverpool would say; he was merely one of several they looked into. There was no preferred choice, they insist, until they alighted on Feyenoord’s Arne Slot. But he seemed to emerge from the shadows. The high-profile nature of the Portuguese’s candidacy contrasted with the low-key approach adopted by Slot. He got the job by stealth, almost without warning.
![[Arne Slot’s Liverpool side have opened up an advantage at the top of the Premier League]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/27/13/e37f9c88f425d64dcfd1ca06b1647be9Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM1Mzg3ODcz-2.78571784.jpg)
Five months after he might have done, Amorim will make it to Anfield on Sunday; but in charge of Manchester United. A meeting of managerial opposites has given them very different experiences in charge of England’s two biggest clubs. Slot has had the smoothest of starts at Liverpool, Amorim the rockiest of beginnings at United. Slot has taken his team to the top of the Premier League and Champions League tables. Amorim has warned his new employers are at risk of dropping into the Championship. “This club needs a shock,” he said on Monday.
![[Ryan Gravenberch of Liverpool has been reinvented under Arne Slot]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/14/16/SEI233213435.jpg)
