“There’s always pressure.” Dirk Kuyt speaks out on Arne Slot’s Liverpool future, the weight of the Klopp era, and why the Champions League remains the ultimate escape hatch for a stuttering season.
Liverpool Legends played out an entertaining 2-2 draw against Borussia Dortmund Legends at a sold-out Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
The walk toward the Kop on Saturday afternoon felt different. Usually, the air around Anfield during a Legends match is thick with nostalgia and the easy warmth of “remember when.” But the conversation the 50,000 in attendance inevitably drifted from the glories of the past to the stuttering reality of the present.
Arne Slot, the man tasked with the impossible job of succeeding Jurgen Klopp, is finding out exactly how heavy the crown is. Slot’s job is under a level of strain that would have seemed unthinkable just twelve months ago.
After the high of a Premier League title victory in his debut season, the current campaign has been a “dismal attempt” at a defence. Ten league defeats the latest a bruising 2-1 defeat at Brighton have left the Reds not just out of the title race, but scrambling for their Champions League lives in fifth place.
Dirk Kuyt, a man who knows a thing or two about the unique demands of the red shirt, spent time at Anfield this weekend.
The Dutchman arrived from Feyenoord in August 2006 for a modest £9 million and proceeded to give the club six seasons of lung-bursting devotion. While he landed on Merseyside as a prolific central striker, he was famously transitioned to the right-wing by Rafa Benitez.
Having played 285 games and netted 71 goals in Red, Kuyt understands the unique gravity of the Liverpool shirt better than most so making a public backing of Arne Slot to a disgruntled fanbase has weight to it.
Having briefly worked alongside Slot also at Feyenoord, Kuyt remains an acquaintance and an admirer. He watched from the pitch as the fans serenaded Klopp who returned for the Legends game and saw the stark contrast between the “relaxed” former boss and the man currently under the microscope.
Speaking to ReadLiverpoolfc Kuyt was quick to remind everyone that the heat currently being felt by his countryman is simply the ambient temperature of life at Liverpool.
As a manager of Liverpool there’s always pressure,” Kuyt said via This Is Anfield. “If you ask Jurgen the same question, I think everyone showed today [Saturday] at the stadium he was and is really loved, but also he had to get results for a club like Liverpool.”
Kuyt’s point is poignant. Even Klopp, the deity of the modern era, wasn’t immune to the demand for silverware. The difference, perhaps, is the speed of the fall. Slot’s debut season was a whirlwind of success, but as Kuyt notes, that success creates a hunger that is difficult to sate.
“I don’t think there’s much to change for Arne, because he knows he has to get the results in, it was from the first moment he came in, it was during his first season but that’s still the same situation when you’re winning the Premier League. People expect that you will have success and that success is something that comes with a club like Liverpool.”
The connection between Kuyt and Slot is more than just shared nationality reports even suggested Kuyt was in the frame to join Slot’s coaching staff last summer.
While the domestic form has left many fans “desperate to see the Dutchman sacked,” Kuyt pointed toward the one competition that has historically acted as a life raft for struggling Liverpool managers: the Champions League.
Despite the poor performances domestically, the former forward believes that the European stage offers Slot a shot at redemption that could wash away the sins of the Premier League season.
“I think for every manager there’s a lot of pressure to get that success and I think Arne should be very proud of the success he already reached in such a short period as manager of Liverpool,” Kuyt urged.
“Who knows, Liverpool have done it before being not so successful in the league and still being really successful in Europe, so I really hope that will be the case.”
The European escape hatch
The path to that seventh European title is anything but clear. Liverpool face an incredibly difficult quarter-final against PSG on April 8 and 14, with the Parisians already successfully had their domestic fixtures postponed to focus solely on the Reds. Should Slot guide the side through that, a semi-final against either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid await.
No doubt It is a brutal fixture for a team that has looked fragile against Brighton. However, as Kuyt suggests, the Champions League is where Liverpool’s logic often defies their form. If Slot can somehow guide Liverpool to glory in Budapest on May 30, the ten league losses and the domestic slump will likely be forgotten about.
The clock is ticking. The sight of a really relaxed Jurgen Klopp on Saturday was a reminder of what the job takes out of a man. Slot doesn’t have the luxury of relaxation. He has a mountain to climb, and as Kuyt rightly pointed out, the expectations aren’t changing
