Arne Slot spoke publicly for the first time as Liverpool manager on Wednesday following his appointment as Jurgen Klopp’s successor at Anfield.
The Dutchman arrives at Anfield on a three-year deal from Feyenoord, where he won an Eredivisie league title and Dutch Cup, and officially started work as Liverpool head coach on June 1.
His interview with the club’s in-house media offered the 45-year-old his first chance to allay the fears of supporters and put forward his own vision for the club. Slot lauded his predecessor, his view on the squad and spoke in glowing terms about his former side.
And in the ‘getting-to-know-you’ session, Slot opened up on the coaches that will make up his backroom staff at Anfield. At present, only three appointments have been made by the club. Among them are two coaches following Slot from Feyenoord.
But the third addition has certainty raised a few eyebrows after the Dutchman admitted to not knowing of the new recruit before new sporting director Richard Hughes brought him to Slot’s attention.
Arne Slot spoke publicly for the first time this week after replacing Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool
The 45-year-old has joined Liverpool on a three-year deal after leaving his role at Feyenoord
Sipke Hulshoff
Several of Jurgen Klopp’s staff followed him out the door at the end of last season. The absence of assistant managers Pep Lijnders, who has joined RB Salzburg as their new head coach, and Peter Krawietz will be keenly felt.
The pair took care of a large amount of the coaching responsibilities, with Lijnders particularly involved on the training pitch.
Slot has opted to bring with him to Anfield Sipke Hulshoff, who has been his No 2 in each of the last two seasons. The 49-year-old will already be familiar to Liverpool’s Dutch stars, including Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo, having served as Ronald Koeman’s assistant for the national team.
Hulshoff had been juggling his commitments at club and international level but decided to step away from Oranje earlier this year in order to facilitate his move to Anfield.
‘He is very clear and tactically strong,’ Van Dijk told Dutch outlet Voetbal International. ‘I like the moments when he leads a training session. I think I also speak for the group.’
Hulshoff has a couple of unusual stops on his footballing resume, having previously been the manager of Red Bull Ghana and Al-Arabi. However, for the vast majority of his career he has worked as an assistant.
‘Because we work together for such a long time, I think the both of us know exactly what we want when it comes to game model, playing style – and I think that helps.’ Slot said of Hulshoff on Wednesday.
Slot has brought with him to Anfield his Feyenoord assistant of two years Sipke Hulshoff
The 49-year-old helped the side win the Eredivisie title in his first season ahead of a Dutch Cup win last term
Hulshoff was also recently Ronald Koeman’s assistant for the Netherlands national team
Ruben Peeters
Another coach following Slot through the doors at Anfield is head physical performance Ruben Peeters. He is likely to take up many of the responsibilities of Klopp’s head of fitness and conditioning Andreas Kornmayer.
The 32-year-old held the position of head of performance at Feyenoord. In addition to duties performed by Kornmayer, Peeters will fulfill part of Andreas Schlumberger’s remit at Anfield. Like his namesake, Schlumberger left his role as Liverpool’s head of recovery and performance at the end of last season.
The Belgian has previously worked at Genk as a physical coach at academy and then first-team level. He also served an eight-month internship with AZ Alkmaar in 2014-15, where Slot would end up gaining attention after taking the side agonisingly close to winning the Eredivisie.
‘Us three have worked together at Feyenoord for three years now and we know how we want to work, which is normal.’ Slot said.
Liverpool are still seeking to fill several positions over the next few weeks, Slot added: ‘those are the first positions we filled in and I think we are still looking for one or two other positions. Richard [Hughes] and me are calling each other a lot, not only about this but also about the positions we still have to fill in.’
Ruben Peeters has joined Liverpool as the club’s head physical performance, having moved with Slot to Anfield
Fabian Otte
The most surprising of the three coaches named by Slot was the 33-year-old goalkeeping coach Fabian Otte, who the new Reds manager admitted he didn’t know.
The German leaves his role with Bundesliga outfit Borussia Monchengladbach but Liverpool may have to wait until the end of the Copa America for his arrival. Otte has worked with the USA national team since January and is currently out with the nation at the tournament.
He fills a role at Anfield that was held by the often maligned John Achterberg and will oversee the development of Alisson Becker and Caoimhin Kelleher, though it is likely the Irish stopper will depart this summer.
Otte is no stranger to English football, owing to his previous role at Burnley during the 2020-21 campaign before his move to Germany. The young coach has also previously worked with the New Zealand women’s national team.
Otte had a nomadic playing career that saw him pop up in Germany, the USA, the Netherlands and England – where he had a short stint at non-league Blyth Spartans.
Fabian Otte has replaced John Achterberg as Liverpool’s goalkeeping coach after leaving his role with Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach
The 33-year-old will oversee the development of the Reds’ No 1 Alisson Becker and the other keepers in the squad
Otte, pictured after USA’s Concacaf Nations League final win in March, is currently away with the nation at this summer’s Copa America
According to The Liverpool Echo, Otte was recommended by both former England goalkeeper Joe Hart and current Switzerland number one Yann Sommer, both of whom have previously worked with the German.
Explaining the new arrivals, Slot said: ‘Of course, you want to take some people with you as well because they know who you are, they know your playing style and they can translate this to the other people in the staff as well.
‘But if you go to a club like Liverpool, you can assume – and I already noticed that – that there are a lot of good people working here as well.
‘So, we are going to use hopefully the best of both worlds to implement a few things from us and to use the knowledge that is inside this club already because of the nine years Jurgen (Klopp) and his staff worked here.’
