Arne Slott believes Ange Postecoglou has given Tottenham their identity back as the Reds prepare to visit north London in the Premier League on Sunday.
Tottenham are currently in 10th place after an up-and-down season that has seen them impressive wins over the likes of Manchester City, Aston Villa and Manchester United, but they have also lost seven of their 16 league games so far.
Their inconsistency has led some to question Postecoglou's attacking style, but Slott, whose Liverpool side are currently top of the Premier League, believes the Australian is taking them in the right direction.
Ahead of Sunday's game, the Reds boss said: “I have to really give them credit, if you look at Tottenham, I'm coming from Holland but I watched a lot of today's games.
“You think of Paul Gascoigne, Glenn Hoddle and Gareth Bale. They've always been a certain brand of football for me and a certain identity, and Ange Postecoglou has given them all that identity back.
“Every time it is fun to watch them, and sometimes the results go against them, but I think they are one of the teams that beat City.”
We were drawn against Tottenham in the semi-finals of the tournament @Carabao_Cup 👊 pic.twitter.com/VWgI4rrlRO
– Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 19, 2024
Carabao Cup draw Tottenham
Tottenham and Liverpool will face off in the New Year after meeting each other in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Regarding the draw, Slott added: “An interesting match but every draw would have been interesting because I don’t know if this will always be the case in England, but four top teams are still in the draw, so it was not an easy draw.”
Slott reiterated his admiration for Postecoglou by insisting he hopes the 59-year-old Spurs get the long-awaited trophy – but says he hopes it won't be the Carabao Cup.
“I hope, I hope, I hope he wins the title,” he said. “It's not the League Cup but I'm quite impressed with his team in the Europa League.
“People talk about trophies, trophies, trophies and that is very important. For me his brand of football is more important and if he can combine it with winning something it will be good for football in general because then people can stop talking about ‘did he? Is he too aggressive?
“How can you play too much attacking football?”
“Referee at the table after 19 games”
Although they have played one game less than their title rivals, Liverpool's lead at the top of the Premier League was reduced to just two points after their 2-2 draw with Fulham last weekend.
And Slott says previous suggestions that the Merseyside side were on the verge of running away with the title were premature, claiming they should only be judged when the season reaches the halfway point.
“As I said over the last three or four months, judge the table after 19 games because everyone played the same opponents.
“Maybe we had a bit of luck, for example Arsenal got a lot of red cards at the start of the season and that's why they dropped points.
“We have now received a red card and dropped points. We now have Tottenham away, which is what Arsenal were playing at the start of the season, and Chelsea have already played there.
“Don't look at where you were in the season, it's where you are at the end of the season.”
Liverpool team news
Slott says Ibrahima Konate and Connor Bradley are still out for the Reds, saying: “Those two are still in red so they're not training with us at the moment. They're on their way back but haven't trained with the team yet.
“It's very difficult (to predict when they'll be back). Let's wait and see but we have a very good rehab staff here and they've done a really good job with Alison and a few others.
“The main thing is that if they come back they are ready to come back and we should not focus on one, two or three games. The most important thing in the long term is that they are fit after that.”
Slot appears to be healthy other than those two, with Andy Robertson returning after injury.
