“If you had asked Liverpool fans back in August would their team win the Premier League, most would have said no,” says former Reds goalkeeper Sander Westerveld.
Jurgen Klopp was always going to be the hardest of acts to follow as manager.
Liverpool supporters were understandably worried about the future when the charismatic German, whose force of personality and success gave him iconic status, announced in January 2024 he was leaving at the end of that season.
Who would undertake the seemingly impossible task of replacing Klopp? Would Liverpool tread water or even go backwards for a season or two while his successor settled in?
“Klopp was a sort of god who changed the club – not just on the pitch but the whole atmosphere,” says Westerveld.
Yet the transition from Klopp to Slot has been seamless, culminating in Liverpool winning the title for a record-equalling 20th time.
With 25 wins in 34 games and just two defeats, Slot’s side have made top spot their own and have looked down on the rest of the Premier League since 2 November.
And now they are champions – with four games to spare – for just the second time since 1989-90.
Slot, who ruled himself out of the running to become the next Spurs boss while at Feyenoord in May 2023, has joined an elite band of bosses in the Premier League era to have delivered the title in their first season in charge.
