The greater the legacy that is left behind by one manager, the more painful life can often be for the person who replaces them. Arsenal endured four years out of the top four following the departure of Arsene Wenger, even if they hadn’t qualified for the Champions League during his final two campaigns either. Manchester United have not had as much as a sniff of the league since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down.
While it’s still been early days for Arne Slot, the handover from Jurgen Klopp started smoother than anyone could have expected. A new-found defensive solidity, improvements in supposedly declining superstars, whatever the hell he did to Ryan Gravenberch... initial results fuelled the possibility that this campaign could be progress, rather than just spinning plates.
By late October, Slot had won 11 of his first 12 matches. He did that with some important tweaks to how Klopp had set up the side.
1 The System
Under Slot, they have switched from the 4-3-3 and inverted full-back, operating a more orthodox 4-2-3-1.
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