Arne Slot’s name boomed around Old Trafford.
The Dutchman responded by raising a triumphant clenched fist in the direction of the travelling Kop. Understated but symbolic as the away end roared their approval.
This was the day when his Anfield reign truly had lift-off. If the routine victories over Ipswich and Brentford delivered signs of genuine promise, demolishing their arch rivals in their own backyard represented a proper statement of intent.
Not since George Kay 88 years ago had a Liverpool boss won his first away league clash with Manchester United. Slot also became the first manager in the club’s history to win his opening three league games in charge in the top flight without conceding a goal.
“No, I don’t,” said Slot in his typically matter-of-fact manner when asked if he thought his first experience of this fixture could have gone any better. “I think everything you want to see as a manager you saw in this game.”
United know all about the difficulties that come with trying to fill the void when an iconic leader steps down. They’ve been wrestling with it for over a decade.
This summer at Liverpool was supposed to represent the hardest transition facing a top Premier League club since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
Would the wheels come off after the emotion-fuelled goodbye to Jurgen Klopp? The level of concern was understandable, especially after fans’ favourite Xabi Alonso ruled himself out of the running when he vowed to stay loyal to Bayer Leverkusen.
Slot’s body of work at Feyenoord was impressive but his appointment by Fenway Sports Group’s CEO of football Michael Edwards and new sporting director Richard Hughes in May still represented a sizeable gamble given he hadn’t managed outside of his homeland. Dutch coaches have hardly lit up the Premier League in the modern era.
However, Edwards and Hughes were wowed by Slot’s track record of out-performing his resources, his attacking playing style, developing players, keeping them fit and his sheer enthusiasm to follow in Klopp’s footsteps having turned down the Tottenham job a year earlier.
Of course tougher tests than United lie ahead but it’s been the dream start for him. More than two years after taking over, Erik ten Hag declared he wasn’t Harry Potter after Sunday’s humiliating defeat, but Slot’s immediate impact on the issues he inherited this summer has been spellbinding.
Liverpool’s season unravelled in the spring because they were a soft touch at one end and so wasteful at the other. There was an alarming lack of control — underlined by the two previous trips to Old Trafford in March and April.
Klopp’s side led 2-1 and 3-2 in the FA Cup tie but conspired to lose 4-3. The 2-2 draw in the Premier League meeting a few weeks later was a hammer blow to their title hopes and they were self-inflicted wounds once again.
What a contrast to Sunday’s one-sided contest. Liverpool’s more measured approach under Slot served them well. They kept their heads after a VAR review for offside curtailed Trent Alexander-Arnold’s celebrations early on.
#MUNLIV – 6’ VAR OVERTURN
Alexander-Arnold’s goal was initially awarded on-field. The VAR determined that Salah played the ball while in an offside position in the build-up and recommended that the goal was disallowed. pic.twitter.com/TopbT8h3dJ
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) September 1, 2024
Centre-backs Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate kept on inviting the press and then calmly threading pin-point passes between the lines. They were as composed as their manager on the touchline.
It took Luis Diaz until November last season to register three Premier League goals. But the Colombian reached that tally by half-time at Old Trafford as he twice converted clinically after being teed up by Mohamed Salah.
The midfield battle was a mismatch as Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai outclassed, outworked and outwitted their opponents. The balance in that department has changed with Slot employing a double pivot and as a result there is greater protection for the backline.
New signing Federico Chiesa, watching on from the directors’ box, will have been licking his lips at the ammunition being provided by that trio.
Shortly after Szoboszlai laid on the third for Salah, who made it 15 goals in 16 appearances for Liverpool against United, the olés from the away end were ringing around a shell-shocked Old Trafford.
At that stage, there was still more than half an hour to play but rather than go for the jugular, Slot’s side kept their shape and kept United at arm’s length. The game management was refreshing. The full-backs were disciplined and Slot’s use of substitutions was intelligent to provide fresh legs. They should still have added to their account but it mattered little.
Three games, three wins, seven goals scored and none conceded is all the more remarkable given that international tournaments meant that Slot only had his full squad to work with for less than a fortnight before the Premier League started.
There was no continuity from the Klopp era, with the entire backroom staff changing as part of a complete revamp of the club’s football operations structure. Yet new voices and new ideas have been quickly embraced. The players have never known so many meetings but they have served a purpose in terms of preparing them tactically for the challenges ahead.
“The Reds have got no money but we’ll still win the league,” chanted the away end during the closing stages at Old Trafford — a nod to a quiet summer in the transfer market which saw just Chiesa added to the squad and a deal lined up for Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili to follow in 2025.
The big talking point was Liverpool’s decision not to pursue an alternative holding midfielder to Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi after he turned down a move to Anfield.
However, Gravenberch has grasped the opportunity given to him in that role. He won seven of his 10 duels, two out of two tackles and made four interceptions against United, while propelling Liverpool forward when in possession.
“Coming from the Netherlands we all know how good he is with the ball,” Slot said. “He can be a really important player for our build-up game, but what impressed me most when I started working with him was how much he can run and then still how good he is when he arrives in the duel.”
(Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Questions still remain — like whether Liverpool can maintain momentum when the schedule gets more crowded with the Champions League starting later this month?
There’s also the ongoing topic of the contract situations for Salah, Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and the fear of unwanted distractions.
“As you know, it’s my last year at the club,” Salah told Sky Sports post-game. “I just want to enjoy it — I don’t want to think about it. I feel like I’m free to play football and we will see what can happen next year.”
The prolific Egyptian went on to clarify that it “could be” rather than it “would be” his last season with Liverpool. But his choice of words felt pointed with Liverpool yet to offer the 32-year-old an extension.
Edwards and Hughes should be looking to build on the current feelgood factor by getting those extensions boxed off.
As for Slot, he can take a breather during the international break in the knowledge that he’s already made his mark and he’s got the perfect platform to build on.
(Michael Regan/Getty Images)
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