Jamie Carragher has set out what he feels should be the ‘minimum expectation’ for Liverpool under Arne Slot this season.
The Dutchman has taken over as head coach tasked with the responsibility of building upon the incredible legacy that Jurgen Klopp created in terms of transforming the Reds from also-rans to winners of major trophies and near-annual challengers for silverware.
In his column for The Telegraph on Friday morning, the ex-LFC defender isn’t demanding that the 45-year-old win the Premier League or Champions League in his first year in charge, but rather that his team maintain a position whereby they firmly believe that they could.
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Carragher wrote: “One of Klopp’s greatest legacies is restoring Liverpool’s status so that they entered every competition with a genuine belief they could win it. Slot’s job is to maintain that.
“Please do not misunderstand my expectations, though. In a world in which Manchester City and Real Madrid dominate at home and in Europe, the days of suggesting first is everything and anything else is a failure or should put a job on the line are gone.
“A season can evolve in different ways because of a number of circumstances, whether through injuries or rival teams improving so that qualifying for the Champions League is deemed a success. So be it.
“What I am saying is the minimum expectation for Liverpool going into every opening Premier League game is to target the major honours, whether they are favourites or not.”
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Only the most optimistic of Liverpool fans would, at this juncture, expect Slot to be in the mix for the Premier League title at the end of his first season in charge, but it’s not unrealistic to predict that the Reds at least maintain their top-three status and keep Manchester City and Arsenal honest going into the final six weeks of the campaign.
The two domestic cups are very winnable if we get favourable draws and some nice momentum, and the same factors could also propel a team to Champions League glory (as we know from 2005 in particular), although Real Madrid rightly start as firm favourites to retain the trophy.
Over the past four years, LFC have alternated between winning/challenging for major silverware and suffering an alarming drop-off. Having taken the curve upward last season, the hope will be to avoid another big slump, especially with the new man in charge having plenty to prove as Klopp’s successor.
For Slot, the immediate objective will be to get a few early wins on the board in order to generate momentum and instil a confidence that his team can end the campaign with tangible success, even if we don’t quite manage to ascend the winners’ podium when the big prizes are handed out.
A near-perfect pre-season offers genuine confidence that the Dutchman will have a solid first season at the helm, offering an ideal platform for what’ll hopefully be another glorious era at Anfield!