‘Character and harmony’: Liverpool success due to players buying into Slot’s philosophy, says John Barnes

DUBAI: Former Liverpool hero John Barnes believes a major factor in the club’s Premier League success last season was down to the character of the players Arne Slot inherited from the departed Jurgen Klopp.

The Dutch coach, who led the club to the coveted league title during his first season in charge, will see his team kick off their 2025-26 campaign at Anfield on Friday night when they play Bournemouth.

Barnes has praised the way both Slot and the players conducted themselves.

“It’s very interesting, because of course when Arne Slot came, there were no new signings, no changes,” Barnes, a two-time title winner with Liverpool in 1988 and 1990, told Arab News at the Adidas Flagship Store in Dubai Mall.

“He did very well to have won the league with Jurgen’s team, if you like, as much as we did change the way we played. But I knew that because of the character of the players that he had, that they would buy into what he wanted.”

Barnes, also a former England international with 79 caps, said the transition from a legendary manager to a new one was not always a smooth process.

“You see (it) a lot of times when a new manager comes in, and particularly following an iconic manager,” he said. “As we’ve seen with Man Utd and Alex Ferguson, with Arsenal and Arsene Wenger, the team dips … this team hadn’t dipped and that’s to do with the character of the players.

“It went better than we probably expected, but now all of a sudden, with the signings we’ve made, everyone expects it to go even better which is dangerous, because we’ve won the league at a canter. Are we now expecting the new players to win the league by 20 points? No. It’ll take time for the players to blend.”

This summer has seen several big-money signings,