90min

Arne Slot discusses 'being overworked' ahead of Liverpool announcement

  • Incoming Liverpool manager Arne Slot has spoken about managerial demands
  • Dutchman admits all coaches are on the brink of "being overworked"
  • Jurgen Klopp is leaving Liverpool due to not having energy to carry on

By Jamie Spencer

Arne Slot is gearing up for a new challenge
Arne Slot is gearing up for a new challenge / Soccrates Images/GettyImages
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Arne Slot has already addressed the dangers of managers feeling "overworked", before he has been officially appointed as Jurgen Klopp's successor at Liverpool.

Slot will imminently make the switch from Feyenoord at the end of the season, with Klopp choosing to step down and take a break from management after nine relentless years at Anfield. Announcing his intended departure in January, the German said he was "running out of energy".

Klopp isn't the first to cite that as a reason. Pep Guardiola famously had a year-long sabbatical between leaving Barcelona in 2012 and joining Bayern Munich in 2013.

"I think that almost every trainer of a top club is on the edge of being overworked. Being a head coach is a very tough job," Slot told Dutch publication Algemeen Dagblad.

"Especially at a top club with so many opinion makers in front of you every week. I really experienced this, as it turns out, last season at Feyenoord, [it] was tough."

Crucially, Slot isn't saying that he expects Liverpool to be any more demanding than what he is already used to in Rotterdam and the Eredivisie.

"That would also have been the case if I had stayed at Feyenoord," he said. "Expectations at De Kuip are also high. People expect good football and good results. That has often been successful, but as a trainer you are constantly working on that."

Jurgen Klopp
Diminishing energy is behind Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool exit / James Baylis - AMA/GettyImages

Slot hasn't been shy in addressing his impending switch to Liverpool, representing a first move abroad in his career, and last Friday said that an announcement is a "matter of days" away.

"It takes more than a simple shopping list and going to the store," he explained.

"These kinds of things have to be timed properly. It hasn't been communicated yet, but don't worry, it will undoubtedly happen soon."

Feyenoord host Excelsior at De Kuip on Sunday as the Eredivisie concludes, which will be Slot's last game in charge. Meanwhile, Klopp will be leading Liverpool for the final time that same afternoon when Wolves are the visitors to Anfield on the Premier League’s final day of 2023/24.

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