Arne Slot begins the Liverpool post-Jürgen Klopp era with their record-equaling 20th league title, which Manchester United first achieved in the 2012-13 season. The Reds overcame a dominant 5-1 victory over Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur in an excellent Anfield atmosphere.
Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, and Alexis MacAllister were all on the scoresheet, as Liverpool cruised to the Title in style.
Embed from Getty ImagesSlot In The History Books
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Dutchman is the third Liverpool manaager after Joe Fagan (1983-84) and Kenny Dalglish (1985-86), and the seventh manager after Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Antonio Conte, Manuel Pellegrini, and Claudio Ranieri to win the Premier League, in their first season at a club.
He is also the eighth non-English manager to win the Premier League, and the second for the Reds, who won it in the 2019-20 season under Klopp (Germany).
Embed from Getty ImagesThe only difference was that today they were able to celebrate it in front of their home fans, whereas in 2020, this was not possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Slot Delighted As Players Prove Him Wrong
Embed from Getty ImagesA delighted Slot was amazed at how his team exceeded expectations, as he had believed that this squad was nowhere near the level to win the Premier League.
“When the season started, we would have been happy with top four. But I don’t think that is fair on the players as they are much better than that and they have shown it this season.”
Slot: BBC Sport
But when your team scores the most goals, and has the second-best defence in the league, more often than not, this is the formula which make you champions.
Salah’s Supreme Season
Embed from Getty ImagesOne of the key ingredients of making a title-winning team is to have one of your players scoring 30-40 goals a season, and the Egyptian has proven he can do that consistently.
Salah has 28 goals and 18 assists from 34 games so far this season. He is just four goals off his best season, which was 32 in 2017-18.
Should he win the Golden Boot, which is almost a certainty, it will be his fourth,, which will draw him level with Thierry Henry, who scored 175 goals in the Premier League for Arsenal.
If he wins the PFA Player Of The Year for the third time, he will be the first player to do so in its history.
He is also the fourth African, after Didier Drogba (CIV), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (GAB), and Sadio Mané (SEN), to win the Golden Boot.
Due to his incredible consistency of scoring goals and creating assists, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him win the Ballon d’Or sooner rather than later.
MacAlister And Gravenberch Rule Reds Midfield
Embed from Getty ImagesHaving a strong Midfield is one of the crucial aspects of how well a team does throughout the season.
The Argentine and Dutchman have played a crucial role in how Liverpool plays with and without the ball this season.
According to 365.com, his 95 tackles were the most by any Liverpool player this season, and he has bossed their midfield.
As for Gravenberch, he has made 57 interceptions and is only two behind West Ham’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who has 59.
The Reds may not have a Rodri or Declan Rice, but what they have is a group of Midfielders who aren’t afraid of doing both parts of the game, and both Gravenberch and MacAlister have been superb at controlling the Reds’ midfield this season.
Van Dijk: Premier League’s Greatest Centre Back?
Embed from Getty ImagesIf you look at all the teams that have won the Premier League, more often than not, they have always had top-quality Centre-Backs.
From Jaap Stam, to Sol Campbell, to John Terry, to Rio Ferdinand, Vincent Kompany, John Stones, and Ruben Diaz, Van Dijk has certainly proven that he deserves to be in that category, and could surpass all those names as the greatest of all time.
He has kept a total of 14 clean sheets for Liverpool this season and is a real leader at the back.
What makes the Dutchman such a top centre back is his ability to read the mind of the opposition’s attacks, and react accordingly to them.
The fact that he can do this while being a captain is a testament to his leadership character.
There is no doubt that he will go down as one of Liverpool’s greatest ever captains, particularly if he continues to lead them to success in the next few seasons.
Regardless of what happens next season and beyond, Arne Slot’s name will be forever remembered in the streets of Liverpool, especially after delivering Premier League glory to Anfield again.
For more information and reaction to Liverpool’s Premier League Title win, visit World In Sport.