Slot Eyes Long Tenure Inspired by Liverpool and FSG Tradition

Liverpool's Dutch manager Arne Slot reacts during the English Premier League football match between Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool at the American Express Community Stadium in Brighton, southern England on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
Liverpool's Dutch manager Arne Slot reacts during the English Premier League football match between Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool at the American Express Community Stadium in Brighton, southern England on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Slot Eyes Long Tenure Inspired by Liverpool and FSG Tradition

Liverpool's Dutch manager Arne Slot reacts during the English Premier League football match between Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool at the American Express Community Stadium in Brighton, southern England on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
Liverpool's Dutch manager Arne Slot reacts during the English Premier League football match between Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool at the American Express Community Stadium in Brighton, southern England on May 19, 2025. (AFP)

Liverpool manager Arne Slot, who has won the Premier League in his debut season, can see himself staying with the English side for a long spell, saying the club and the owners both have a history of keeping faith in their managers for a long time.

Slot's predecessor Juergen Klopp stayed at Liverpool for over eight years, winning the Premier League, the Champions League and the Club World Cup during his tenure.

Dutchman Slot, who said he was Liverpool's only choice to succeed Klopp, joined on a three-year contract.

"I could see myself working here for a long time because it's a great club to work for and I'm really happy over here. This club has a history of having managers for a long time," Slot told reporters on Friday.

The manager cited Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, who led Manchester United and Arsenal for over two decades, as examples of English soccer's tradition of long-serving managers.

Slot also talked about the Boston Red Sox, a baseball team that belongs to Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group, where Alex Cora remained as the manager despite finishing bottom of the American League East division twice in a row.

"Not only this club, but also with regards (to the) ownership, because I'm now watching a documentary about the Boston Red Sox," Slot said. Cora "is still there.

"It is a combination of the history of the club and how the ownership works. So, if there is ever a club where you can work for multiple years, it will probably be Liverpool."

Slot said he was convinced to leave Dutch side Feyenoord, where he served as manager for nearly three years, after realizing that he was the only person Liverpool wanted for the job.

"I told my agent that if I am one of three, I am not interested. I didn't want to go into another summer where I had to do all these kinds of meetings and then waiting, waiting, waiting," he added.

"I didn't have to open my laptop one time to show (Liverpool) what I did or how I worked. They knew everything about me.

"There was never one second of a doubt and that had largely to do with the fact why they wanted me and how they tried to convince me to come."



Motorcycling-Double Dakar Winner Sunderland Chasing Round the World Record

Rallying - Dakar Rally - Prologue - Alula to Alula - Alula, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2024 Red Bull GASGAS Factory's Sam Sunderland in action during the prologue stage REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Prologue - Alula to Alula - Alula, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2024 Red Bull GASGAS Factory's Sam Sunderland in action during the prologue stage REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
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Motorcycling-Double Dakar Winner Sunderland Chasing Round the World Record

Rallying - Dakar Rally - Prologue - Alula to Alula - Alula, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2024 Red Bull GASGAS Factory's Sam Sunderland in action during the prologue stage REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Prologue - Alula to Alula - Alula, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2024 Red Bull GASGAS Factory's Sam Sunderland in action during the prologue stage REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

Double Dakar Rally motorcycle champion Sam Sunderland is gearing up to ride around the world in 19 days, a record bid that the Briton expects to be mentally more challenging than anything he has done before.

The bid, launched on Thursday, targets a record of 19 days, eight hours and 25 minutes set in 2002 by Kevin and Julia Sanders for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe by motorcycle.

To beat the feat, which is no longer recognised by Guinness World Records because of the dangers involved, the 36-year-old will have to ride 1,000 miles every day and on public roads across Europe, Türkiye and into the Middle East, Reuters reported.

A flight will take him on to the Australian outback, New Zealand and the Americas. From there, he and the Triumph Tiger 1200 go to Morocco and loop back through Europe to Britain.

What could possibly go wrong?

"I don't think you can ride around the world and cover that many miles a day without having a few hiccups along the way," Sunderland told Reuters with a grin.

"When I try and compare it to the Dakar it's going to be probably, in some sense, tougher. Not physically but mentally.

"In the Dakar you've got a heap of adrenaline, you're super focused, things are changing quite often which makes you have to react. And this is like: 'Right, those are your miles for the day, get them done'. It's more like a mental fatigue."

 

ONE DIRECTION

 

The target time excludes ocean crossings but the journey, starting in September, must go one way around the world and start and finish at the same location on the same machine.

Two antipodal points must be reached on a journey through more than 15 countries and 13 time zones. The Dakar rally covers 5,000 miles over two weeks.

"I was trying to put it into perspective for my mum the other day, and my mum lives in Poole in the south of England, and I was like 'Mum, it's like you driving up to Scotland and perhaps halfway back every day for 19 days'," said Sunderland.

"I'm on the bike for around 17 hours (a day). I set off at 5 a.m. and arrive around 10, 11 p.m. most nights. So definitely later into the day you feel that sort of mental fatigue setting in, and to stay focused and stimulated is not that easy.

"But at least I don't have dunes and mountains to deal with and other riders in the dust, and hopefully not getting lost either."

"I need to behave, let's say, I need to follow the rules of the road and be a good boy with it," said Sunderland, who announced his retirement from professional racing last year.

Sunderland will have a support crew of six travelling behind by car, for security and assistance, but the Red Bull-backed rider expects to be well ahead.

He also hopes his bid will have a positive effect.

"In the news today, it's all sort of doom and gloom in the world, with all the wars going on," he said. "And I think it's quite nice to show people that you can still get out there and experience the world for what it really is."