New Liverpool boss Arne Slot "almost took offence" when asked about abandoning a key part of Jurgen Klopp's approach at Liverpool.
Slot has replaced Klopp as manager at Anfield, penning a three-year deal after arriving from Feyenoord.
He spoke to the media for the first time and has been putting the players through their paces in pre-season training before a tour of the United States.
The Dutchman has a tough task at hand given what Klopp achieved at Liverpool in eight-and-a-half years.
Advert
Slot has his own ideas and a clear style of play which has brought him an Eredivisie title and KNVB Cup.
And in his first press conference, Slot was quizzed on his preferred formation and whether he will veer away from the 4-3-3 which served Klopp so well on Merseyside.
But the 45-year-old's response was a firm one, as he schooled the journalist on his system.
Liverpool reporter David Lynch discussed the moment in a video for his YouTube channel, commenting: "And he was asked 'Is that what you're going to use going forward? Are you going to abandon Klopp's 4-3-3?' and he was kind of taken aback really. [He] almost took offence to that question and suggested 'if anyone watches my team closely, they wouldn't think I played in a 4-3-2-1. We use different formations for build-up, we approach in a totally different way from game to game and from situation to situation'.
"He wants fluidity in his play. So he totally rejected the idea that he's a 4-2-3-1 guy. He said 'really, if anything my Feyenoord side was a 4-3-3'. So that, I really thought was interesting - that he was so firm in the way he responded to that question and really shot that down. I think that showed a steeliness and a man who knows his own mind."
Slot has already scrapped one of Klopp's pre-season traditions by changing the Lactate Test to a similarly brutal 6-Minute Race.
The drill involves running for six minutes around a 400 metre track and is done to obtain the players’ maximum aerobic speed.
Mo Salah and Sepp van den Berg have excelled in the test.
Topics: Arne Slot, Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp
Josh Lawless