Mark Lawrenson shares Arne Slot rumors coming out of Liverpool dressing room

Arne Slot’s proper debut as Liverpool manager could scarcely have gone much better. Three points and a clean sheet are two very good ways to get people on board.

The Reds’ performance in the 2-0 win over Ipswich Town at Portman Road was far from flawless. But after a slow first half, Liverpool created six Opta-defined big chances after the break. To put that into context, they last had so many golden opportunities in one half of football in April 2022.

Against a newly promoted side or not – the previous instance was against Benfica in the Champions League , after all – that bodes well. The match turned in part on a half time substitution, with Slot replacing Jarell Quansah with Ibrahima Konate . Former Liverpool defender turned pundit Mark Lawrenson has shared some insight gained from the first team and it sounds like we can expect the Reds’ new head coach to ruffle a few more feathers along the way in future.

READ MORE: Alexis Mac Allister explains difference between Arne Slot and Jurgen Klopp
READ MORE: Liverpool transfer need remains clear even as Arne Slot finds new number six

Lawrenson was speaking on a recent episode of the Off The Ball podcast, in which he discussed the former Feyenoord manager. “I mean, the rumor and the talk from the dressing room is that he’s very good,” he said (via TBR Football ). “He very much talks to everybody about everything. He’s a nice fella, but they reckon he has something about him where he won’t be frightened to make major decisions.”

Slot is going to need to be firm in his thinking if he is to be a success at Liverpool. While the situations are not identical, we have seen at other members of the Premier League ’s big six clubs that it can be very difficult to replace a legendary manager.

Equally, the Dutchman would not have reached the heights he has in his coaching career without making a difficult decision or two. And even before hauling off Quansah at half time in the season opener, Slot had made some bold decisions at Liverpool.

Fabio Carvalho impressed in pre-season, scoring against both Arsenal and Manchester United , but was allowed to leave for Brentford, while Joe Gomez was excluded from the match day squad on Saturday with his exit potentially on the cards. Only two midfielders played more minutes than Wataru Endo last season, yet he appears out of the picture too, at least for the time being. Slot has proved Lawrenson’s point and will likely only continue to do so in the weeks and months ahead.

Liverpool.com says: It's good to hear that Slot gets on with people while retaining the necessary edge for tricky decisions when needed. The Liverpool squad will have been used to that from working with Jurgen Klopp, so it's one fewer area for potential disruption.