Arne Slot has not done much wrong since taking over as Liverpool head coach back in the summer. Having won 19 of his 23 matches in charge of the Reds, losing just once, that goes without saying.
His side are top of both the Premier League and Champions League tables and on Wednesday night, away at Southampton, they have the opportunity to reach the first semi-final of his Anfield reign. But that would not be the only first he is facing.
Slot will not be on the sidelines at St. Mary’s, as he instead serves a one-game touchline ban after picking up his third yellow card of the season in Saturday’s 2-2 home draw with Fulham.
When Slot was first named as Jurgen Klopp’s successor, it was clear that it would be a case of ‘same but different’ on Merseyside.
Their similar playing styles have previously been acknowledged, though the Dutchman combines high pressing with a more controlled passing game. Meanwhile, while the German as one of the best man-managers in world football, Slot demonstrated his own strengths in such a field when defending under-fire forward Darwin Nunez ahead of Liverpool’s meeting with Fulham.
There is a notable difference between the pair when it comes to their relationship with supporters, however. Klopp was always very emotional, for better and for worse, boasting a unique relationship with the Liverpool fanbase as a result. No other manager could replicate that connection, with his trademark post-match fist pumps only the tip of the iceberg.
With Slot, it is different. He is more calm and controlled and supporters have faced a battle to earn his acknowledgement – now showcased by a subtle thumbs up to the Kop. It is nothing personal, it is just his style, with the Reds head coach admitting last week it was the same at Feyenoord.
“The people. The people I worked with,” he told two Dutch journalists when asked what he missed about his former club. “And I hate to say this but it’s true, all the fans as well.
“They’ve been really good for me as well. This is something I never did when I worked for Feyenoord, to try and make myself popular by giving them compliments. But they’ve been outstanding for me.”
Preferring his side to do his talking on the pitch for him, Slot’s Liverpool have certainly managed exactly that during the first half of his maiden campaign.
Slot was sheepish at the AXA Training Centre on Tuesday morning when addressing his imminent touchline ban as he acknowledged that fiery side of his character. But he was in good form too as he cracked jokes about his behaviour and took a playful swipe about officiating in the process.
Cheekily teasing that he is already eyeing up his next yellow card, it is clear he has no intention to change his touchline demeanour despite already getting on the wrong side of Premier League officials more than once.
“You always reflect but I think in general I am calm,” he insisted, before offering a more tongue-in-cheek response. “I don’t know if it is smart to say this but there is also a limit for me, let’s put it that way, and then I can get emotional.
“And unfortunately that limit is only reached by refereeing decisions than the decisions my players make! Because they make more good decisions than the referees do in my opinion for my team!
“In an ideal situation I would have just be on the sideline, but I got a yellow which I probably deserved as well. It happens.
“One of the three I didn’t deserve. I told what I said back then but was told that is not a word we use too much over here, but that was meant to one of my players so that one was a misunderstanding!”
“The one I got against Chelsea was absolutely deserved. And this game I could have got five maybe so to come out with one, maybe I have to thank the referee for that!
“The Chelsea game was emotional. We should have had a second penalty but the VAR changed it. In the Fulham game I think there were a lot of controversial decisions being made and then if you are down to 10 men, that works out even harder [on you].
“The Chelsea game and this game was emotional and maybe I should have stayed just underneath instead of going above. It is what is it. I think I have three options to go now, don’t I? Is it again three before?”
Managerial suspensions in England are different to Holland, with Slot unfazed as a result despite preparing for his first ever ban.
“Not as much as I thought it would impact me because if you are suspended in Holland then you are not allowed to be in and around the dressing room and you cannot do the media as well,” he explained. “So this is a lighter version of suspension, I would say than I’m used to but I’ve never been used to being suspended, so it’s the first time I am.
“I think I am still able to do the things that I want to do. The less impact you have on the team is during the 45 minutes and the most impact you can have is at half-time or before the game, and those are the things I can do.”
However, while Slot had done little wrong as Liverpool head coach, he revealed at the AXA Training Centre that he believes he has made one or two mistakes in the dugout during his time in charge since succeeding Klopp.
“I don’t always think you have to show it to have that fire,” he said. “I think it is clear if you work in a club like this or around the world at a top club you have this fire inside you that you want to win every game.
“And you try to influence as much as you can. The mistake I have made two times already here, and one or two times in Holland, is sometimes you think that creating an atmosphere that the whole world is against you can lead to some positive decisions at the end of the game.
“But here, until now, in the Chelsea game and in the Fulham game for the whole 90 minutes it stayed the same. It didn’t change. It wasn’t like after I tried to influence things a little bit the referee was all of a sudden giving us one or two free-kicks.
“No, he just kept the whole game the same. I know that it doesn’t work, but sometimes you think, ‘Can I influence that a bit?’ But it didn’t help at all.”
Slot will now have to try to influence his side from further afield against Southampton but he sees no need to change his ways despite once again getting on the wrong side of the footballing law and inadvertently following in Klopp’s footsteps.
In truth, his offences are only misdemeanours compared to some of his predecessor’s wrong-doings. Slot sees the funny side, as do supporters and media alike, and is proving to be particularly charming and charismatic in his own way as a result.
With the officials themselves, perhaps less so. Though, unlike Klopp, Slot is nowhere near emerging as the PGMOL’s public enemy number one – at least not yet, anyway.
But it is curious how the further we get into Slot’s Liverpool reign, the more and more similarities with Klopp we can spot, albeit at a time when the former has long-since stepped out of the latter’s shadow and is proving himself as his own man more and more with each passing week.