Jamie Carragher says Arne Slot has taken four Jurgen Klopp players and made them so much better for Liverpool

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Liverpool are looking ahead to what could be a remarkable 2025 under their new head coach.

The Reds have been almost faultless in the second half of 2024, losing only one game out of 27 this season.

Much of the credit for that lies squarely at the feet of Arne Slot.

The Dutchman has waltzed into Liverpool and propelled them to an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.

Slot had been projected to struggle a little at Anfield following the departure of the great Jurgen Klopp last summer. However, the 46-year-old has taken Klopp’s legacy and ran with it.

And according to former Reds centre-back Jamie Carragher, the new Liverpool head coach has actually made some significant improvements at Anfield, with four players in particular reaping the rewards.

Arne Slot improves Liverpool quartet

Liverpool have made a mockery of any pre-season prediction about what would happen in a post-Klopp world.

It could all still blow up for the Reds, of course, and nothing has been won just yet. But the signs are very good indeed.

And according to Carragher, one of the best things about Slot’s tenure so far is how he has gotten more out of the Liverpool squad he inherited. Speaking to Sky Sports Monday Night Football, the former defender picked out Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah as the main beneficiaries of this.

“When I talk about the manager, Slot, Liverpool didn’t buy players in the summer but he’s rejuvenated so many players,” says Carragher. “Gakpo looks a different player, Diaz looks a different player, Gravenberch in midfield, even Mo Salah from last season!”

READ MORE: Alan Pardew names the former Man United player Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch really reminds him of

“When you think about the adjustments Slot’s made, he’s not a million miles away from Jurgen Klopp in how he plays football, but what he’s done with certain players,” the pundit adds.

“If this situation where Liverpool didn’t have a centre-forward, Gakpo would’ve been down the middle [under Klopp] and Diaz would have been on the left.”

“Now, Gakpo looks a completely different player on the left this season than he did under Klopp – or through the middle – and Diaz actually looks better when he’s playing through the centre than he did on the left.

“That is not being critical of Jurgen Klopp but, again, that little tweak, that little touch that Arne Slot has put on this Liverpool team is making a massive difference.”

Not all good news under Slot

Although Carragher is absolutely spot on here – even in regards to Salah – unbelievably – there are members of the group at Liverpool who would argue his point.

The four who the Liverpool legend mentions are not the only ones who could be on this list, with Ibrahima Konate another example of a player who looks even better than last season.

But there are also a handful of players who have regressed since Slot took over.

Jarell Quansah looks shot of confidence after making a successful breakout under Klopp, while players such as Wataru Endo, Harvey Elliott and Darwin Nunez have seen their output slashed.

So, while Slot deserves immense credit for transforming the likes of Gravenberch and Gakpo especially, the hope should still be that other players come to the fore later in the season, too.