“It’s only Tottenham!”
It used to be Alex Ferguson’s shortest team talk, but Arne Slot will not be saying “only” when Spurs visit Anfield on Sunday.
The meticulous Dutchman will not allow any complacency in Liverpool’s pursuit of the one point needed to clinch their 20th English league title.
No slips – and he won’t need Steven Gerrard to remind them of that word even with four more games to play.
He will demand all three points and a fitting display for the fans who were denied the chance to celebrate the 2020 triumph because of Covid restrictions.
Adding to that frustration was that the club had waited 30 years for their 19th.
This will draw them level with eternal rivals, Manchester United, and put them back on their “perch” – even if it is 20 apiece.
Fergie had a famous prefix for that word, too.
It looks a formality, and Spurs’ 16th place in the table suggests little has changed since the Scot considered them soft touches.
He invited United to eat them alive, which they usually did. Once, even when 0-3 down at half-time, United won 5-3.
But Slot is a very different manager. It took Fergie three years to win a trophy; it’s taken Slot less than a season.
More pertinently, it took his predecessor, Jurgen Klopp, four seasons, although he led them to several finals.
Poor old, beleaguered Spurs are once again the sacrificial lambs – this time standing in the way of Liverpool’s coronation.
But currently, they’re just one point and two places below United, and the pair could yet meet in the Europa League final.
The gluttonous appetite for European places only underlines the EPL’s claim to be the strongest league in the world.
Which brings us back to Slot. For a little-known manager of Feyenoord, who had never coached outside his native Netherlands, to win this league at a proverbial canter, is an achievement for the ages.
And to do it at a club many times the size of his previous one, while receiving “the hospital pass” of following a club legend.
And he’s done it without spending any real money: a token £12.5m for Federico Chiesa being his only purchase.
And when his only major target, Martin Zubimendi, changed his mind after a £50m deal with Real Sociedad was agreed, he found the answer was already on the books.
His conversion of Ryan Gravenberch, who had yet to convince Klopp he was worth the £35m paid for him as an attacking midfielder, to a ball-winning No 6 was a masterstroke.
He’s also done it with a completely new coaching team – his own, but none of Klopp’s key lieutenants were left to show him where the bodies are buried.
Perhaps the most convincing endorsement of Slot’s methods has come this month with Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk renewing their contracts.
It was only natural that big players would wait to see what the new guy is like before committing, but now that they have, it’s nothing less than a wholehearted approval.
Now Liverpool can start looking to build on this triumph, and Slot’s enhanced reputation can only help attract more big names.
It has all worked out very well for owners, Fenway Sports Group, whose new structure appears to be working, with football director Richard Hughes playing a key role in the contract talks.
He may not have been able to stop Trent Alexander-Arnold from leaving for Real Madrid, but he’s young enough to return, older, and perhaps even a wiser defender.
But perhaps he’s got his timing wrong: as his boyhood club looks set to reap an even bigger harvest, Real might be on the cusp of a rare fallow period.
Pep Guardiola certainly has no doubts about the strength of the EPL after Manchester City edged Aston Villa to go third.
The City boss said: “What makes you feel good is the Premier League. Liverpool will be champions, and the level of teams is outstanding.”
The naysayers claim it’s a non-vintage year because two of the Big Six have bombed and the likes of Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth are challenging for Europe.
But despite poor seasons, United and Spurs still managed to reach the last four in a European tournament.
And the so-called lesser lights have improved out of all recognition.
Brighton, Fulham, Crystal Palace have also claimed the scalps of the Big Boys, and Aston Villa ran Paris Saint-Germain mighty close in the Champions League.
Liverpool’s season could have been better, but they wobbled at the wrong time – in a Carabao Cup final and a Champions League quarter-final.
The Q word had been mentioned again, but the squad was not deep enough to sustain an assault on all four trophies.
Now they know exactly what’s needed and even though the chasing pack are all likely to be stronger, Liverpool will start in pole position – thanks to a bald Dutchman, of whom we knew very little.
Liverpool hit the jackpot with this Slot Machine.
Meanwhile, Manchester City and Aston Villa are firm favourites to meet in the FA Cup final as they take on Forest and Crystal Palace respectively in this weekend’s semi-finals.
Forest recently edged City while City beat Villa, but it would be a major surprise if it’s not Guardiola and Unai Emery leading out their teams in the final.
Kevin de Bruyne, who has suddenly rediscovered his form, might just deliver the perfect farewell to ensure that Pep has a chance to maintain his record of winning a trophy in all but his first season.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.