The interesting bit in all this post-Klopp talk is the balance between having an elite manager and having an elite club. Because if your whole operation is basically one fella’s brain, then the day he walks out the door you’re starting again from scratch.

You only have to look at the long reigns elsewhere to see the risk. If one man holds all the levers, the next appointment isn’t just “find a good coach”. It’s “find the next version of him”, and that’s where clubs can burn years. New manager, new staff, new ideas, a different type of player. Then it doesn’t click and you’re back at it. It’s exhausting, and it’s expensive in football terms.

The club should be the constant

I’m firmly in the camp that says Liverpool should have a defined way of doing things. Not a single tactic you can never deviate from, but a set of principles that don’t change every time a head coach changes: what sort of characters you buy, what physical level you expect, how you want to play off the ball, what your academy pathway looks like, how recruitment and analysis fit together.

Then you hire “employees”, basically, who suit that structure. That’s not disrespecting the manager either. It’s just accepting the truth: managers are transient, even the great ones. The badge isn’t.

Slot and the value of not ripping it up

That’s why the idea of appointing Arne Slot as a fit for the club makes sense in principle. When a massive figure leaves, the temptation is to overreact. Change everything, put your stamp on it, prove you’re different. But sometimes the smartest move is restraint.

If you get continuity in the training ground habits, the standards, the dressing room tone, you give yourself a better chance of staying competitive while the new coach finds his feet. Liverpool have lived the opposite of that in the past, where each era meant a full reset. It’s not the only way, but it’s a risky one.

If it goes wrong, keep the surgery small

The other upside of a “club-first” approach is what happens if it doesn’t work. If Slot isn’t viewed as the long-term head coach, you can replace him without a total rebuild. No scorched earth, no “these players don’t suit”. You just pick the next coach who broadly fits the framework and carry on.

And if you decide the coach is fine but the squad building hasn’t been right, then you look at the recruitment side instead. Replace the people responsible for the profile of signings, appoint someone who understands the club’s direction, and keep moving.

Maybe that sounds a bit clinical. But to be fair, the alternative is letting any one individual become the whole plan. And that’s how you end up chasing the past.

Written by Rigsby: 11 January 2026

Tags: transfers efl tactics