The deal to bring Feyenoord manager Arne Slot to Anfield as Jurgen Klopp's replacement is reportedly nearing completion, which should give the incoming boss a full summer to prepare for his first season in charge of Liverpool.
Filling Klopp's shoes is a daunting challenge for anyone given how beloved the German manager is at Anfield and the amount of success he achieved during his time there, and one former Liverpool player feels that it may be too much for Slot.
Speaking to Paddy Power, Mark Lawrenson expressed concern that Slot won't be given a fair shake regardless of his pedigree, and that the Dutchman won't last very long in his new role.
“Everyone is pleased that Arne Slot to Liverpool is 99% done, and that he wants to go there," Lawrenson said. "He’s not had to scream to the Feyenoord owners which is also good.
“I just think that the next year is almost an impossible job, following Jürgen Klopp. If he’s got the team in all the competitions by Christmas time, he’ll have done well, and that will bring the belief.
“But if it’s punctured with one or two strange results, you’re going to get people saying, ‘He’s not Klopp’ and all that kind of stuff. It’s a great job for him to get, I just feel he might only do a year, or 18 months total and then it’s whoever after that."
Lawrenson explained that the job of following Klopp is "impossible" for anyone, especially with the way the outgoing manager's larger-than-life persona is intertwined with the club.
“It’s an impossible job and not just on the football side, but the other side that Klopp brings [off the pitch] and there’s not a great history of Dutch managers doing well in England, is there?
“They are, without being detrimental, a different animal. If he’s still in there by the end of the season, he’ll have done really, well.
“The last thing they want is to have to get another manager, unless it’s Xabi Alonso.”
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