Former Liverpool captain Paul Ince has issued a warning to Arne Slot and addressed the debate surrounding Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Ince has warned Slot against considering the possibility of replacing Jurgen Klopp, expressing concerns that Slot’s future at Liverpool could unfold similarly to David Moyes’ tenure at Manchester United.
Slot, the former Feyenoord manager, has taken over as head coach at Anfield following Klopp’s decision to step down after nearly nine years in charge.
During his time with Liverpool, Klopp was the longest-serving manager in over 40 years, securing eight trophies, including the club’s first league championship in 30 years and a sixth European Cup.
Slot secured both the Eredivisie and the Dutch Cup with Feyenoord and guided them to their first European final in two decades. However, former Liverpool captain and United midfielder Paul Ince believes that Klopp’s success has set an almost insurmountable bar for his successor. He compares this to David Moyes’ challenging task of following Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford.
“Whoever came after Sir Alex was going to have a poisoned chalice because you’ve got to kind of replicate what he had done,” said Ince. “I think that was probably the downfall of David Moyes, who is a fantastic manager but he just couldn’t succeed. So many different types of managers have come in and they’ve struggled and got nowhere near to the level of Sir Alex Ferguson.
“Hopefully it’s not the case, but you kind of think it’s just going to be the same thing with Arne Slot at Liverpool. He is coming to a massive club, who expect to be up there challenging for the Premier League. They expect to be challenging for every trophy and expecting him to replace Jurgen Klopp.”
Ince added: “You can’t replace Jurgen Klopp. He (Slot) has to be a man with his own ideas. Other issues he might face are whether Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah stay at the club, all these players have had relationships with Klopp for so many years and you could see how much they loved Klopp.
“You could see the passion they’ve got for him and the respect. Which players are going to want to stay, which players are going to want to leave?
“But listen, I know the fans will be backing Arne Slot to the hilt and wanting him to do well, the Liverpool fans are some of the best fans in the world. When you come into their club, you’re part of their family. You don’t really see Liverpool boo any fans or boo any players. They’re just a loyal set of supporters.”
In an interview with bet365, Ince discussed the ongoing debate about Trent Alexander-Arnold’s optimal position. The Liverpool player is anticipated to join Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham in England’s midfield for their Euro 2024 group opener against Serbia on Sunday evening.
And Ince said: “When it comes to starting Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield it’s a tricky one because Serbia have got some good players, look at Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic, they score goals for fun so defensively we have to be spot on.
“It’s about how attacking you want to play. I think in the group stages you don’t want to go all guns blazing, especially against a decent Serbia team. I like the idea of maybe putting Trent in there, alongside Rice. No one else has the passing ability that Trent has.
“If you ever want to get up the pitch, he can get you up the pitch. If you’re playing the likes of Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane he can pick people out. So if it was me, I’d probably play Trent alongside Rice.”
And of Alexander-Arnold moving into midfield permanently for Liverpool, Ince added: “You’ve got to look at it from a defensive point of view. It’s not just about getting the ball and pinging it at 60 yards, you’ve got to tackle, you’ve got to track back, you’ve got to understand the role.
“You’ve got to cover a lot of grass in playing a central midfield player. So whether Trent can do that, I don’t know. What we know is that Trent for me has been an outstanding full-back for a long, long time.”
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