Slot machine: Liverpool evolution under Arne Slot results in dominant Premier League title win | OneFootball

The Dutchman came in and took Jurgen Klopp’s team and made it in his image

The ride may not have been as fast or furious as that under predecessor Jurgen Klopp but Arne Slot's swift ascent to Premier League winner will be no less celebrated.

For weeks Anfield, both inside the ground and in the surrounding streets, has been poised to launch into wild celebrations which fans were denied in 2020 when Covid restrictions meant Jordan Henderson lifted the trophy in an empty stadium.

Slot has benefited, perhaps unexpectedly, from a vintage season from Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, approaching his 34th birthday, putting himself back in the reckoning to be the world's best centre-back.

Virgil van Dijk

Liverpool FC via Getty Images

But the Dutch coach's ability to get the most out of what he was given - £10million sixth-choice forward Federico Chiesa was the only addition to the squad he inherited from Klopp which finished nine points behind champions Manchester City in third place last season - has been admirable.

For example, the 22-year-old Ryan Gravenberch, no more than a bit-part player in his first season under Klopp, was turned into the pivotal cog in the Slot machine.

Plan A was to recruit Spain international Martin Zubimendi as midfield conductor but, while a deal was agreed with Real Sociedad, the player turned down the move with two weeks of the transfer window remaining.

With the qualities of their only genuine number six Wataru Endo more based on defence than attack Slot had to find someone else to play the controlling role and settled on his young compatriot.

For the first four months of the season Gravenberch was, in spite of Salah and Van Dijk's performances, arguably the most impressive in how he thrived in the position.

He highlighted one of the main reasons Liverpool appointed Slot, namely his reputation for improving players.

Mo Salah

Peter Byrne/PA Wire

But it was the triumvirate of Salah, Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold who provided the bedrock for a run which brought just one defeat in their first 30 league matches, having opened up a 13-point lead by the end of February.

Slot adapted Salah's role, having seen that at 32 he can no longer dictate games from first minute until the last, but that maximised his best attributes as the Egyptian enjoyed his best goalscoring season since his record-breaking 42-goal maiden campaign in 2017-18.

Van Dijk epitomised everything Slot could have wanted from his captain, leading by example and maintaining the standards needed to be title contenders while being the Premier League's dominant defender.

Alexander-Arnold, despite season-long speculation about a move to Real Madrid, still regularly produced the game-deciding interventions which have made him one of the most creative players in Europe.

Those performances helped deflect many of the questions over their collective futures to give Slot a relatively easy ride on the subject, although as head coach he was able to hide behind the shield provided by sporting director Richard Hughes.

Winning moment

Getty Images

But the Dutchman was not afraid to make big calls, hooking young centre-back Jarell Quansah at half-time in his first match at Ipswich as, in his opinion, the defender was not winning enough duels against Liam Delap.

It quickly became apparent certain players were trusted above all others and they started virtually every match, but that was not such good news for Andy Robertson's status as first-choice left-back, nor Chiesa's hopes of making an impact even off the bench.

Endo, despite being one of the more senior players, and 22-year-old Harvey Elliott were also marginalised, bringing some scrutiny when performances dipped in March and April.

But if Slot has made his mind up on many of those he will need significant reinforcements in the summer to avoid encountering problems again.

The head coach's other big failure was in not being able to integrate the often erratic Darwin Nunez into his plans and the future looks bleak for the Uruguay international.

While planning for next season has already started, the celebrations for this one are only just beginning.