Arne Slot shares theory on Liverpool vs Man City rivalry after Jurgen Klopp exit
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has had his say on the rivalry with Manchester City after the two clubs slugged it out for Premier League glory during Jurgen Klopp's tenure
by Simon Mullock · The MirrorArne Slot insists Liverpool are now a different beast to the team that kept coming second to Manchester City under Jurgen Klopp.
While the battle between Klopp and Pep Guardiola was hailed as one of the greatest rivalries of the Premier League era, it was the City boss who took six titles back to the Etihad while the German had to settle for just one.
Slot resisted the temptation to make any new signings when he became Reds’ boss last summer - but he has fine-tuned the squad he took over to storm clear at the top of the table while four-in-a-row champions City have gone into reverse.
Now the Kop boss has suggested, ahead of Liverpool’s bid to take three points from the Etihad for the first time in nine years, that he inherited enough players who weren’t scarred by past experiences of finishing behind the Blues.
Slot said: "I think this is quite a new team, to be honest. I think only a few of them, maybe five or six, were in this rivalry and competition with City.
"For a large part, these players were brought in last season - or are younger players who have come through the ranks of the academy. So there are a few who have experienced this (losing to City), but for most of them this is a new situation. They have never lost the league because they have only just come in.
“You can look at it both ways. You can see that some players who are here have already won the league and were in competition with City and have experienced a lot, while the others have less experience but don't have that disappointment of losing it a few times.
“I don’t think that in the last two seasons we lost to City - because the competition was between Arsenal and City. We are talking about three years ago (the last time Liverpool finished second) - and three years in football is quite a long time.”
Klopp’s team finished runners-up to City in 2019 and 2022 in two epic title races that went down to the last day, while last season they ended in third place after failing to keep pace with the Blues and Arsenal.
Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and Alisson have all survived to tell the painful tale. Eleven years ago, Liverpool lost out to City again when Steven Gerrard’s infamous slip opened the door for Manuel Pellegrini’s team to take the Premier League.
Back in May, Klopp suggested Liverpool should organise an open-topped bus parade if City are stripped of any titles should an independent tribunal rule that the club broke financial regulations during their period of dominance.
That’s an argument that Slot has absolutely no interest in - despite seeing Guardiola’s squad bolstered by a £170million spending spree that brought four new players to the Etihad last month.
Slot said: “The charges aren’t part of my time over here. I don't follow the case because it doesn't impact this season. I sometimes see the headlines, but I don't follow it.
“That (City’s spending) is not a question for me. The only thing I can see is that in the summer they lost Julian Alvarez and only brought Savinho in - so they had a similar summer to us.
"They have adjusted in the winter because they've probably, I assume, felt like they needed that. That's what it is. I don't know the reasons behind bringing four players in."
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