Slot's Machine Deserved It

IT HAS BEEN A STRANGE SEASON BUT THE BEST TEAM WON THE LEAGUE

Well done Liverpool, champions of the Premier League with four games to spare. Bravo too to Arne Slot, who has not only gone where no Dutchman had gone before and won the English title but also done it at his first attempt, impressively taking the reins from a managerial legend and exceeding expectations.

Arne Slot the Flying Dutchman won the league

Reds fans celebrated so much they caused a minor earth tremor on Merseyside and a metaphorical one beyond.

The team kept faith with Jurgen Klopp's heavy metal football and swept all opposition aside in the league, and yet, they stumbled in the cups so failed to achieve a trophy haul to go down in the annals. That is next season's challenge.

Having finished first out of 36 in the first phase, Liverpool lost on penalties to a PSG side who had been rampant in both legs of their Champions League's Round of 16 clash, while in the F.A. Cup Slot fielded a weakened team away to Plymouth, who were then bottom of the Championship and ended up getting relegated to League One, and lost embarrassingly 1-0.

They did reach the League Cup final but then lost 2-1 to Newcastle, the serial final failures who bagged their first silverware since 1969 and their first domestic trophy since 1955.

Another school of thought says that Slot's Liverpool benefitted from unusually poor opposition. Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, although finishing strongly, have been unusually off the pace this season, apparently holed in the harbour by the injury to talisman Rodri, while their Catalan commander has been doubting his own credentials throughout a faltering campaign.

Arsenal too, although advancing further in Europe and only losing four times to Liverpool's three, have drawn 13 out of their 35 outings, leaving them 15 points adrift of the leaders in second place. Chelsea have lost eight and drawn nine, leaving Enzo Maresca's men in the Champions League spots but well short of a title challenge too.

It has felt a disjointed and unusual season in general. Three of the historic Big Five - Everton, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, have been marooned in the lower half of the table, and currently sit 14th, 15th and 16th respectively. At the same time, two of those no-hopers are in the last four of the Europa League, with the winners of the final gaining entry to the Champions League next season.

A Rejuvenated Mo Salah helped win the title

At the bottom of the table, there was not any relegation battle to get excited about either as for the second successive season the three promoted clubs fell back down again to the Championship with the gap between them and safety a cool 15 points with three games to play.

For a while this year in fact it looked like Nottingham Forest would be the Reds' closest challengers for the title, such was the paucity of opposition. But none of these factors should detract from Slot's excellent inaugural campaign and his club's indomitable team spirit which could have well crumbled post-Klopp.

Compare Liverpool's reaction to that of Manchester United post Alex Ferguson or Arsenal after Arsene Wenger. Their sustained momentum under a new manager has been remarkable. The team has basically been the same as last season and the big names - Salah, Van Dijk, Alisson et al have carried on where Klopp left off.

There should be no doubt nor excuses. The Reds have rightly ruled the roost in 2024-25. Now they must do it all again in 2025-26.