LONDON: Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk (pix) said Arne Slot’s attacking tactics could be the ideal match for the Premier League club if the Feyenoord boss wins the race to succeed Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp will leave Anfield at the end of this season and Slot has emerged as the leading candidate to replace the German.
Liverpool are reportedly in talks with Slot over a potential move to Merseyside and Van Dijk has expressed his support for his fellow Dutchman’s football philosophy.
“I find it hard to answer of course, but I think Arne Slot is perhaps one of the better Dutch coaches at this moment,“ Van Dijk told Viaplay following Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat at Everton on Wednesday.
“I think the way of playing and the philosophy he has, that he could be a Liverpool coach.
“Only I think from what I read and hear is that it’s still far from being completed. We shall see.”
If Slot is picked to take over from Klopp, who led Liverpool to the Premier League title in 2020 and won the Champions League in 2019, he will likely have to lift a team that is set to finish this season on a low note.
Liverpool’s loss at Merseyside rivals Everton left them three points behind leaders Arsenal with four games left.
Third placed Manchester City will retain the title if they win their last six matches.
After quarter-final defeats in the FA Cup and Europa League, Klopp’s farewell season is becoming a damp squib and Van Dijk admitted they don’t deserve to win the title.
“Games likes these, the bare minimum is fight. We were lacking that at so many moments in games,“ Van Dijk said after the Everton defeat.
“If you play like we did, obviously even if we create two or three clear-cut chances again, you don’t deserve to win the league.
“It’s crunch time and we’ve not been good enough in the way we finished the chances off, in the way we defended together and also the fight. I think we have to show much more.
“But we have to look in the mirror and each and every one of us has to think like ‘listen, you can’t accept this. You can’t accept the way we let our season end’.”
After Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso ruled himself out as a potential candidate to replace Klopp, Slot is the front runner and his CV suggests he could make an impact in the Premier League.
Slot was a leading candidate to take charge at Tottenham last year before opting out of the race as Ange Postecoglou eventually joined the north Londoners.
Employing an attacking game-plan, Slot led Feyenoord to the Dutch title in 2023 and won the Dutch Cup this season.
Feyenoord are currently second in the Eredivisie, nine points behind PSV Eindhoven with four games left.
