Former Gunner insists Slot has been lucky with Liverpool

Sol Campbell believes Arne Slot was lucky with the team he inherited at Liverpool, arguing Mikel Arteta has had it a lot harder at Arsenal.

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Former Arsenal defender Sol Campbell has argued that Arne Slot’s early success at Liverpool was as much to do with luck as anything else, suggesting the manager stepped into an ideal situation when compared to what other managers faced.

“Some people are lucky,” Campbell said. “Arne Slot inherited a fantastic side and won the league. He hasn’t changed much. He’s lucky. A new manager, good bounce, players responded. Arteta had to get rid of some players, the deadwood.

“The last couple of years, [Arteta has] had pretty much the team. The centrepiece is the centre forward. Finally, they’ve got someone (Viktor Gyokeres), but they’ve got to find out how to play him.

“This year they’ve got to win by hook or by crook — but you have work to get a lucky break.”

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It’s certainly true that not many managers get the opportunity to step in like Slot did. Usually, a vacant managerial position means a team struggling and off their best, explaining why the previous manager was sacked.

But Jurgen Klopp wasn’t sacked. He stepped down for personal reasons, after a season in which his team racked up 82 points despite star man Mohamed Salah spending part of the season away for AFCON and returning injured and in middling form.

Slot just had to keep Liverpool performing at roughly the same level and hope Salah’s form picked up, which it did. Liverpool only gained two more points last season than in 2023/24, but that was enough to win the league.

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That’s not to say that Slot didn’t do a good job. Even just to maintain the level of Klopp’s Liverpool teams is an impressive feat.

But despite Liverpool sitting just one point off the top of the table as it stands, they haven’t looked nearly as good in 2025/26 so far. This isn’t Klopp’s team anymore, and Slot has a job on his hands to prove he can make his own team click in the same way.