Liverpool champs, this time with fans

Never second since Nov 2, the Premier League campaign of Reds was marked by greater control

- Dhiman Sarkar

KOLKATA: Arne Slot has done what Juergen Klopp could not: celebrate a Premier League title with Liverpool's fans on Sunday.

Exactly how big that is can be gauged by the fact that it last happened in 1989-90, a full two seasons before the Premier League came into being.

It was in the light of this that Slot said "everyone is looking forward to Sunday". Anfield did, heaving and bouncing all afternoon as Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 to win their record-equalling 20th league title in the English top division. Only Manchester United have as many.

The fifth person to win the Premier League in his first season after Manuel Pellegrini (2013-14), Jose Mourinho (2004-05), Carlo Ancelotti (2009-10) and Antonio Conte (2016-17) — the last three with Chelsea — Slot has achieved what only Joe Fagan (1983-84) and Kenny Dalglish (1985-86) have with Liverpool. The difference is that Fagan and Dalglish were part of the Liverpool system, as staff or player, Slot was not. Which makes it a case of came-saw-conquered on way to a first Premier League title for a Dutch from Zwolle, 100km from Amsterdam.

Slot did that with just one summer signing: Federico Chiesa, who played all of 33 minutes in the league before Sunday. Transitions are difficult to manage, look no farther than Manchester United and Liverpool may have braced for a period of uncertainty, especially after the consistency under Klopp, but it looks like they have actually improved. Slot has said not much needed to be changed by way of style but deserves credit for making important tweaks.