FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Europa League - Play-Off - Second Leg - AS Roma v Feyenoord - Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy - February 22, 2024 Feyenoord coach Arne Slot reacts REUTERS/Ciro De Luca
(Reuters) - Liverpool's new manager Arne Slot said he will not rip up the foundations laid by Juergen Klopp and will instead build upon his predecessor's work.
Slot was appointed as manager last month to replace Klopp, who left the club after more than eight successful years in charge.
In an interview published on the club's website on Wednesday, Slot said Klopp had left the team in a really good place.
"I think we have a lot of quality and the way they played last season was already impressive, so we are going to build from there," the Dutch manager added.
"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.
"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.
"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 Juergen and his staff worked here."
Slot added that his attacking brand of football was similar to Liverpool's style under Klopp.
"This is probably one of the reasons they came to me as well," Slot said.
"We were all inspired by (Pep) Guardiola and Klopp and I think at a big club, which I worked in at Feyenoord as well, it is probably the only style you can play – to have the ball a lot, to have a lot of energy."
Liverpool next play in a pre-season game against Real Betis on July 26. They start the new Premier League season at Ipswich Town on Aug. 17.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
