Arne Slot said Liverpool “always believed” they could win the Premier League despite entering the season as third favourites behind Manchester City and Arsenal.
The Reds sealed their second Premier League title, and first in five years, with a storming 5-1 win over Tottenham at Anfield on Super Sunday, putting them out of sight of the second-placed Gunners with four games to go.
Speaking on the back of a title-winning debut in the Premier League, which had been unexpected outside Anfield at least, Slot told Sky Sports there had always been a feeling it was possible inside the club.
“For the whole season we were on top of the league but you also know how hard the Premier League is,” he said. “The belief for us to win it was here throughout the season.”
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Liverpool’s players celebrated securing the Premier League title in the dressing room after their 5-1 win against Spurs
“It’s difficult to put into words. You can feel how important it was for the fans to be here. We always come back, we always find a way to win. I don’t think we could have lost today.
“Our main focus was to win this game, if you are a part of it you still feel the pressure of getting the points over the line.”
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk hailed his side as the “truly deserved” champions of England.
“It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing,” the defender told Sky Sports as he and his team-mates celebrated on the pitch.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England.
“(Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Salah: Has Slot improved me? Look at the numbers!
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Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson were among the many Liverpool players who spoke with Sky Sports after beating Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 and claiming the Premier League title
The improvement in Mo Salah’s already impressive numbers has been one of the highlights of Liverpool’s title-winning campaign under Slot, with the Egyptian on course to register the highest goal involvements of any individual player in a Premier League season.
Salah took his game to new levels under Jurgen Klopp following his transfer from Roma in 2017, but coming towards the end of his first season working with Slot, he said the Dutchman had taken him up another gear at Anfield.
“You see the numbers, it seems so,” he told Sky Sports. “Now I don’t have to defend much.
“It’s quite difficult to say one thing [different between Klopp and Slot], but the tactics are quite different.
“But I told him ‘as long as you rest me defensively, I will provide offensively’ – so I’m glad I did. It was the manager’s idea of course, but he listens a lot.
“He’s very honest. He’s Dutch, the Dutch are quite tough, but he made our lives easier because he asked immediately what he wanted you to do, which is what we did.”
Redknapp: With tweaks, Liverpool can go again
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Highlights from the Premier League match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur
Former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp said Liverpool would not need major additions to challenge for the Premier League next season, despite the expected resurgence of Man City and continued threat of Arsenal.
“They’ve got the best centre-back in world football by a mile in Van Dijk,” he said. “A goalkeeper that is still at the peak of his powers, Salah whose stats and numbers are through the roof.
“Next year, it maybe needs a bit of tweaking, bringing in a couple of players. You’ve got Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes that have phenomenal football knowledge and they’ll make sure they find the next Salah or Van Dijk.
“But this doesn’t need that much work. This Liverpool side are going to be a force next year and they’re full of confidence.”
Analysis: Slot’s subtlety key to first-year success
Sky Sports’ Laura Hunter:
Turns out there is life at Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp – and silverware too! The start Arne Slot has made to his Anfield tenure has been remarkable, and quite the riposte to those who reckoned Liverpool would regress in the post-Klopp era.
Slot has been clever but equally authentic. When he pays homage to the restorative work done by Klopp to return Liverpool to the European giant they were in the 1980s, he means it.
He chanted his predecessor’s name over the PA system on Sunday in the same style Klopp sung his on his Anfield farewell last year. There is mutual respect but also an understanding that what he has achieved would not have been possible without a leg-up from Klopp.
Slot didn’t rip up the playbook. He didn’t need to. A tweak here, a tweak there was all it took. Less chaos and more control.
Slot deserves a salute for his diligence, losing just two league games on the way to the title, scoring more goals than any other side and managing the second-best defensive record too. Liverpool are back on their perch. How long they stay there will now be the true measure of how good the Dutchman really is.
