How Liverpool have been influencing their new manager for years – Liverpool FC

Liverpool may have only just signed John Heitinga, but the Reds’ style of play has been an influence on new assistant manager Arne Slot for a long time.

After retiring in February 2016, Heitinga immediately began working as a coach, displaying his badges and progressing through the Ajax team.

Now a UEFA Pro Licence holder, he has joined Liverpool to become one of Slot’s assistants in a new support room.

While the coaching staff may have changed, the style of football will not be too different from the high-energy game employed by Jurgen Klopp.

Speaking to The Athletic in 2020 while coaching Ajax Under-19s, Heitinga admitted he has “a few influences” including the Liverpool side under Klopp.

He explained how “the style of Ajax in the past with Cruyff, but also Van Gaal, and the relationship Moyes had with the players” impacted him.

The Dutchman then added Pep Guardiola and Diego Simeone to his list of influences, before mentioning “Liverpool’s high intensity” and explaining: “When they receive the ball, it’s the quickest way to score.”

It took seven years of training at Ajax’s famous De Toekomst academy before Heitinga was finally appointed interim coach in January 2023 following the departure of Alfred Schreuder.

Heitinga won 14 of his 22 games in charge, but it wasn’t enough to earn him the job on a permanent basis. He subsequently joined West Ham, where he spent the 2023/24 season as Moyes’ assistant.

The 40-year-old’s background at Ajax, both as a player and a coach, has given him some of the qualities Liverpool are looking for, including a willingness to develop players from the academy.

Speaking about Ajax’s setup, he said: “There is a pathway from the first team all the way down to the under-8s. I have the first team database and they have mine. We all share.

“We don’t have a secret — it’s just the way we treat our players, the discipline we ask of them. Age is just a number if you’re good enough.

“We take risks. That means we can lose games too. Of course you want to win, but it’s important to learn.”

Growing up as part of that system, Heitinga always wanted to become Ajax manager, but now that opportunity has come and gone. For now, Dutch football journalist Elko Born has speculated that he may have changed his mind.

He said This is a stadium: “When he became Ajax coach as interim, things didn’t work out as well for him as he had hoped.

“It must have been a huge professional disappointment for him. He didn’t talk much about it, but I can imagine how he feels personally now.

“He thinks, ‘OK, maybe I’m too young to be a first-team coach, maybe I need more experience as an assistant somewhere before I can take on that senior leadership role at a club?’

“Or maybe he’s discovered for himself, if not for anyone else, that maybe being the first team coach and the guy in charge isn’t as suited to him as he would like?

“Maybe he’s more of a coach, and maybe he needs to be an assistant somewhere, maybe in Liverpool. And maybe that’s just a job that fits his skill set better.”