When the championship title was secured, fans in Liverpool sang the praises of Jürgen Klopp—because Arne Slot returned a gesture made by his predecessor.
When Liverpool FC signed Arne Slot as its new coach last summer, he was considered the opposite of Jürgen Klopp in terms of temperament. But there are now justified doubts about that. In his first Premier League season, the supposedly always level-headed Dutchman collected three yellow cards and one red card, surpassed only by Fabian Hürzeler (Brighton, 4/1). And on Sunday, Slot also proved himself to be a real entertainer.
After his Reds had just taken the final step towards their 20th championship with a 5-1 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur – one point would have been enough – the party started on the pitch, and Slot, dressed in a Liverpool jersey, was right in the middle of it. When he grabbed the microphone, his core message was for his predecessor.
“The only thing I can do now is show Jürgen my appreciation. So let’s go!” he said to the fans and sang the song “Jürgen Klopp – na na, na, na, na” to the tune of “Live is Life” – and of course the whole of Anfield joined in. Slot was returning a gesture made by Klopp, who had the Reds fans sing “Arne Slot – na na, na, na, na” at his final home game in May 2024.
“I don’t think it’s ever happened before that the fans, let alone the previous coach, sing your name before you’ve even arrived,” Slot marveled at the time. Klopp knew, of course, how big the shoes his successor had to fill were. With the championship title in his first year, Liverpool’s first since 2020 and second since 1990, Slot exceeded expectations right away, even if it took a points total that Klopp had clearly surpassed in some of his runner-up seasons.
The current Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull has confirmed that he will attend the final home game against Crystal Palace on May 25. Klopp told ESPN that he definitely wanted to be there when the championship title is finally decided.
