Secrets behind Arne Slot’s brilliant start at Liverpool: Daily training-ground lectures, drilling stars to kill teams with patience and teaching Luis Diaz how to become a goal machine

Arne Slot only had to look a few metres to his left at his opponent on the touchline at Old Trafford on Sunday to realise that imposing an identity of its own on a new team is not easy.

From a distance, these two men have a lot in common: two bald Dutchmen who came to England with glowing references after performing in the Netherlands.

But Slot has achieved in three weeks what Erik ten Hag failed to do in three seasons. Slot’s philosophies and plans are already clear and Liverpool look a well-coached unit, ready to succeed.

United are still a shambles, their game plans falling apart like their dilapidated stadium. Cheers of ‘Ole’ rang out from the away end as Liverpool mocked their rivals with pass after pass in a 3-0 win. New United owners, same old problems.

There have been triumphs under Ten Hag, but each success has felt somewhat patchy. How tough must Manchester City’s nights on the tiles have been between winning the Premier League title and losing to this United team in the FA Cup final?

Speaking of hangovers, there have been no such hangovers at Anfield in the aftermath of Jurgen Klopp’s glory days. Instead, Liverpool fans are drunk on their new manager and his style of play, which has been dubbed ‘Slotball’.

It’s only three games, so let’s not get too excited. They’ve played promoted Ipswich, Brentford – who finished 16th last season – and United, who finished eighth but were 20 points and eight places overachieved in expected goals (xG).

There are still tougher tests ahead, but the signs are promising. Seven goals scored, zero conceded and all the bravado of a team ready to claim the title.

So what’s changed? Chances created, possession and xG remain fairly similar to last season under Klopp, but Liverpool are shooting less and committing fewer high turnovers.

The new system, a 4-2-3-1 that varies depending on the opponent, allows them to be solid at the back but still get into dangerous areas at the other end. They played more directly against United, but the theme was patience and ‘killing’ teams with passes.

Slot is obsessed with those finer details. ‘He really spends hours analyzing opponents,’ a source from Rotterdam told me. Post Sport. ‘Feyenoord players always said: “Everything the manager predicted, we saw in the game”. Players are never surprised. Arne is a workaholic.’

The 45-year-old and his lieutenants hold daily meetings, which some players have described as “like going back to school.” The team accepts Slot’s assertive but calm style.

It’s not exactly a blackboard lecture, but Slot exudes a teacher-like energy. Praise is commonplace, but each meeting is focused on how players can improve, even if they’ve delivered a near-perfect performance.

Slot is flying back to the Netherlands this week to visit family during the international break. Loved ones have visited – his son Joep was given a behind-the-scenes tour of Anfield last month – but he now lives alone in an apartment.

That has allowed him to go all out when it comes to preparation. An early riser, players report to the training ground just after 9am each day, where they eat breakfast as a group. Many enjoy the newly installed coffee shop run by two local lads.

Slots workday continues after the players have gone home. He pores over footage of matches, but also training exercises. He watches each session back and uses clips in his daily lectures.

Although he enjoys his time behind the laptop, the Bergentheim-born boss’s true passion is old-school coaching on the training pitch. One of the main reasons Liverpool signed Slot – a head coach rather than a manager – was his track record of improving players.

Liverpool’s data nerds, led by head of research Will Spearman, noted that virtually all Feyenoord players had increased their production under him.

A key example is winger Luis Sinisterra, who the club wanted to part with just before Slot joined them in 2021.

‘I don’t know what Slot did, but suddenly Sinisterra fulfilled his potential and more,’ the Dutch source added. ‘He went to Leeds for £25m, one of Feyenoord’s biggest sales ever. For Slot, he could have gone for a dime!’

There are many more examples at Feyenoord and Slot’s previous club AZ Alkmaar, where he signed unknown players and sold them for a lot of money.

This is relevant now when we look at Luis Diaz’s performances at the start of the season.

The Colombian has struggled in front of goal since his move from Porto. After Sadio Mane’s departure, the Reds have lacked a goal threat on the left, mirroring Mohamed Salah’s output on the right. Diaz managed 0.35 goals per game last season. This season, it’s 1.33.

Slot saw Diaz as a player he could improve and one-on-one sessions focused on his off-the-ball positioning, when to make runs and choosing the right moment to pass or shoot. Diaz was in the right place at the right time to score twice on Sunday.

Another improver is Dominik Szoboszlai, the Hungary captain who started last season well but whose form fell off the proverbial cliff. He is now thriving in an advanced No 10 role, directing the press alongside Diogo Jota. His passing, running and creative stats have improved dramatically.

Szoboszlai has run more than any Liverpool player this season (21.1 miles) and is starting to put in solid defensive shifts despite his more advanced role. With his pass to start Salah on Sunday, the former RB Leipzig man equalled his assist tally from last season – with 35 games still to go.

The player who has improved most at Liverpool, however, is Ryan Gravenberch. After joining from Bayern Munich last summer, Gravenberch has made a slow start on Merseyside, mainly limited to substitute appearances or run-outs in the cups.

Now he is excelling in a new No 6 role. Slot’s assistant, Johnny Heitinga, worked with the 22-year-old at Ajax and led several analysis sessions to teach Gravenberch the position. The midfielder has been warned not to watch clips of other No 6s and urged to simply learn how to play it from Slot and co.

In a similar fashion to Rodri and Declan Rice, Gravenberch isn’t just there to sit in front of the defence though, he stormed forward on Sunday and slotted through midfield.

Liverpool’s defensive formation resembled a 4-2-4, stifling United when they tried to play. “(United’s) full-backs are very high, and then Casemiro comes in,” Slot said in an interview on Sky Sports in which he unravelled the home side’s game plan.

‘If you pick up the ball and you can keep Diaz and Salah up, then you are constantly one-on-one. Then you need midfielders who can run, and we had three who kept running (Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Gravenberch), and when they come into a duel, they are aggressive enough to win it.

“That was one of the main reasons we were able to win.”

Liverpool have only suffered one injury this season and the unchanged XI on Sunday will need rest as games pile up. The arrival of Federico Chiesa means Liverpool now have quality reserve players in all 11 positions and the Italian forward will be working on his fitness this week.

Slot can be ruthless. He hooked centre-back Jarell Quansah at half-time in the opening win over Ipswich. And despite his two first-half goals, Diaz got much the same treatment on Sunday. He was brilliant in attack, but Slot was unhappy with his defensive work.

Oddly enough, given his analytical approach, Slot didn’t look back at Liverpool’s two frustrating trips to Old Trafford last season. He felt United’s style had changed, so he didn’t see the point.

His planning for what is usually a fiery encounter involved attempts to de-emotion it – a far cry from Klopp’s thundering team talks. But it worked and the Liverpool players are thriving. Every day is a school day for Slot’s new charges. The three tests so far have yielded ‘A’ grades. Can they now pass the tougher exams that lie ahead?