Richard Hughes passes his BIGGEST Liverpool test

When Jurgen Klopp left Liverpool in May last year, Richard Hughes was left with one of the hardest tasks in football.

As soon as the Scot took office his focus was on one task, replacing Liverpool’s most iconic manager since Bob Paisley.

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Replacing a manger who has won the club’s first league title in 30 years, a Champions League and a host of other trophies was never going to be easy, and Hughes had to do it with no previous experience at Liverpool.

A number of names were thrown about, with Xabi Alonso and Ruben Amorim both appearing to lead the race at times, but eventually Hughes found his man.

Arne Slot.

How did Liverpool decide Slot was the one?

The process of finding Klopp’s replacement was always going to take time, but the German’s announcement in January 2024 meant the Reds had just over four months to work with.

Finding Klopp 2.0 was going to be an impossible task, but Liverpool took a data-led approach to appointing their new boss, and Slot scored very highly in the club’s testing.

Hughes even reportedly visited the house of Liverpool’s new head coach during the recruitment process, although he already knew the Dutchman inside out before the meeting.

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Hughes, assisted by the returning Michael Edwards and a whole host of support staff at Liverpool, was very thorough and did not falter when facing one of the toughest decisions in world football.

Time and again clubs have failed to replace their legendary managers on the first attempt, just look at Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson left and Arsenal in the years after Arsene Wenger retired.

But Liverpool, led by Hughes, seem to have got such a tough decision spot on.

Slot’ super debut season at Liverpool

Already, less than 12 months after his appointment was announced, Slot is a Premier League champion.

He is one of only five managers to win the competition at the first time of asking and, to make his achievement even more impressive, he did so without any major signings.

Slot took over a side that many thought to be past its best, only added one player – Federico Chiesa – who has played just 33 league minutes, and managed to deliver the Premier League trophy at the first time of asking.

It is hard to imagine that any of the other candidates for the vacant spot in Anfield’s dugout would have come in and performed as well.

Amorim, for example, joined one of the club’s biggest rivals, Manchester United, and currently has them sat in 14th place.

Richard Hughes’ first test at Liverpool was about as big as they come, and he has passed with flying colours.

The appointment of Slot, alongside new contracts for Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, go a long way to proving that Hughes is the best man for Liverpool, and corroborate the praise that the Scot has received from around the industry as one of the games’ best sporting directors.

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It has been a very bright start for Slot and Hughes in Merseyside and, if this season’s success is anything to go by, the future is looking good at Anfield.