Harvey Elliott explains how Arne Slot has turned Liverpool into 'actors' on the pitch
Arne Slot has lost just one of his 28 matches in charge of Liverpool and midfielder Harvey Elliott has lifted the lid on the Dutchman's methods on the training ground
by Felix Keith · The MirrorArne Slot has quietly revolutionised the way Liverpool play football since taking over from Jurgen Klopp, according to Harvey Elliott.
Slot has been an understated presence in the Liverpool dugout this season, with his calm persona taking a back seat to his side’s scintillating football. Remarkably, Slot has won 23 of his 28 matches in charge in all competitions, with his solitary loss coming against Nottingham Forest in September.
Liverpool are top of the Premier League and the Champions League, while they are about to take on Tottenham in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup. Slot has kept the same 4-3-3 formation used by his predecessor, but has tweaked the way the side plays in and out of possession.
The result has been spectacular, with Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch and others showing brilliant form. Elliott spent the first part of the season watching from the sidelines after fracturing his foot, but is now working his way into the team. He has been hugely impressed by Slot’s way of working.
“With the games coming thick and fast, it’s now just about practising the new style of play that we’ve learned with the gaffer and how we’re going to keep applying it in games,” Elliott told The Times.
“It’s completely different to what we used to play before, so it’s like if you’re performing, if you’ve got a show, you keep going over and rehearsing it and rehearsing your lines or your part of the play. That’s kind of what we’re doing at the moment. We just keep going over and over things and making sure we’re getting it to a tee, really.”
Elliott uses his 45-minute drive from Manchester to Liverpool’s training ground in Kirkby to mentally prepare himself for Slot’s demanding sessions. He has embraced the sky-high standards that have resulted from the world-class players he works with every day.
“When you’re a big team, the standards are so high. Each and every day you have to be on it 100 per cent,” he added. “And, you know, even if you’re feeling off it yourself, you have to kind of pull yourself together and pull through – just so you don’t stand out for the wrong reasons.”
The 21-year-old has now made nine appearances this season and scored in the 2-1 win over Southampton in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. He will be hoping for a starting spot when Liverpool travel to north London to take on Tottenham in the first leg of the tie on Wednesday night.
Slot is confident his side are on the right track, despite drawing 2-2 with Manchester United on Sunday. “It is very difficult for me to compare last season with this,” he said. “The only thing I do know, and what gives me the most confidence for the coming weeks and months, is that until now we haven’t stolen one point.
“All the points we got were fully deserved and I think even in some moments we deserved more than we got. That is the best forecast you can have for the second half of the season.”
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