Liverpool expert David Lynch has talked up the "phenomenal start" the team has made to life under Arne Slot, and after Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp stepped down after almost nine trophy-laden years as manager during the summer, having re-established Liverpool as consistent and serious challengers at the very top of English, European and world football during his legendary reign.
The gregarious German's shoes were big ones to fill, but while the Slot era is still in its embryonic stages, the early signs have been good with seven wins from eight games across all competitions, and Liverpool sitting top of the Premier League table.
A 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday lifted the Reds to the summit of the standings and, while they are yet to face a team currently sitting higher than 10th in the table, Lynch has been impressed with what he has seen so far.
"I was kind of surprised by a little bit - there was some negativity I saw after the Wolves game. I know that wasn't particularly the most convincing performance, and yes, you've got to look at Liverpool's schedule so far and think about the role that's played in them being on top, but I don't really remember anyone saying when the fixture list came out that Liverpool are guaranteed to be top," he told Sports Mole.
"The fact that they've done that is very impressive under a new manager, because you've got to change so much when he comes in. Pre-season was disrupted by international tournaments, so the fact they've picked up the results they have, and I do think outside of the Wolves game as well, and even in it actually, they largely have been convincing performance-wise.
"They've generally comfortably won every game, and expected goals - I know that's not everyone's favourite measure - but I do think it gives you an idea that the performance level has been there. And the underlying numbers generally are quite good for Liverpool so far this season, and some really good performances just purely on the eye test so far this season.
"So a phenomenal start, given that it's a new manager. Yes, [there are] bigger tests to come, but you can't really have asked much more, and he certainly couldn't be in a higher league position than they are. So yeah - very, very good start."
"Continuity candidate" Slot is "less heavy metal" than Klopp
The history of football is littered with examples of successors struggling to live up to the reputation of a long-serving predecessor, but Slot's promising start has raised hopes that he could be more Bob Paisley than David Moyes in that regard.
Of course, it will take closer to eight years than eight matches for Slot to show that he is capable of emulating Klopp, but the Dutchman appears to have implemented the differences in his style of play very quickly considering how many of the players spent a significant number of years under the tutelage of Klopp.
Liverpool were very strongly linked with Xabi Alonso and Ruben Amorim before confirming Slot as their new manager during the summer, and Lynch revealed that the former Feyenoord boss was seen as the "continuity candidate" by the Liverpool hierarchy.
"That was something that people at Liverpool spoke a lot about over the summer - he was seen as a little bit of a continuity candidate. Those sort of similarities in style of play, even though the midfield set-up is slightly different," he told Sports Mole.
"There is a little bit more of a possession-based, patient approach to it, but there are a lot of similarities in terms of the way we press, the aggressive football, they want the high line, they want to compact the pitch in the defensive phase. So those similarities have really helped.
"But I think it is kind of striking how you have still seen the differences so quickly, and I think they were really evident even in pre-season. You could see the way that Liverpool were patient in their approach play, a little bit less heavy metal, shall we say, but it was really evident from very early and that's despite having so many players missing in that period as well.
"It just made a really, really good start from the summer, and it's just building and building and Liverpool are getting more and more convincing - it just bodes really well. They've made good use now of this gentle start they've had to build confidence in what they're doing as well.
"Getting wins on board always increases that, and that happened in the pre-season results. That effect will be doubled coming into the season now, and that he started so well, so the buy-in is there, the style of football is recognisable, and you can see it. Now it's just a case of trying to get better and better at it, and using what they've learned in these first few games to take that into a slightly tougher fixture schedule."
Slot is no "Klopp tribute act"
On a personal level, Slot also appears to have taken over the daunting task of succeeding Klopp in his stride, coming across as a calmer character than his boisterous, charismatic and sometimes spiky predecessor.
"I think he's showing that in his demeanor. You saw some of his latter Feyenoord press conferences, and he's really joking and seems really comfortable in that press environment, and it's not like he seems uncomfortable doing press conferences here, but I think he's showing a bit more of a business-like approach," Lynch told Sports Mole.
"I think that the thinking behind that is he doesn't want to be seen as the sort of Klopp tribute act. He accepts that pressure, that he can't be Klopp. He can't come in and try and be that same gregarious character. Even if you can maybe be that behind the scenes and have that relationship with the players, he doesn't want to put that as his public facing persona.
"He's being sober about the whole thing as well; he's not getting carried away with what the fixtures have been so far. He's trying to play it down, manage expectations, make sure that the hype doesn't build up too much. So taking a really kind of calm approach to it.
"There is a pressure on him coming in, but I think he's kind of dealt with that in the best possible way so far in terms of managing those expectations and being really calm in his dealings with the press, so it seems to be working.
"Of course, the main judgement is what happens on the pitch, and that is always how we're going to judge it. Maybe we'll start to see him deal with the press differently if the results start to turn, but so far on both aspects he seems to be doing really well. And the big plus point is that the results are fantastic. So yeah, everything feels good at that point."
Liverpool can ensure that they head into the second international break still top of the table by beating Crystal Palace on Saturday.
However, before then they will take on Bologna in their second Champions League match of the season, having seen off AC Milan 3-1 at San Siro in their opening last month.
Lynch expects Slot to take the opportunity to rest and rotate players for the visit of Bologna to Anfield, with the Serie A outfit having endured a poor season so far, winning just once across all competitions. body check tags ::
