Arne Slot and Richard Hughes speaking daily as truth on relationship emerges

Speaking to club media channels, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes have detailed their working relationship and their plans for the future

Richard Hughes and Arne Slot have spoken at a Liverpool round table(Image: LFC)

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes have opened up on their relationship behind the scenes, detailing how they work alongside one another and what the plan is for the future.

Slot has been under pressure to increase the levels of performance and results in a season that has been difficult for Liverpool at times. The Reds are currently sixth in the Premier League, but he says his conversations with Hughes remain the same and Liverpool is plotting an upturn in fortunes in the short, medium and long term.

"We have spoken almost on a daily basis since we started," Slot said on a video published on Liverpool's official YouTube channel. "You get to know each other even better.

"What I really like about working for a sporting director [like Richard] is that whenever I need him, he is there for me, but also you don't constantly feel the decisions he is making and that he is judging.

"Maybe he does, but he always finds a really good way of hiding that! You want to have the back-up if needed, but you don't want two eyes on top of you with every decision you make.

"I think Richard finds that balance really well for me to work in ideal circumstances."

"Fundamentally, there is the understanding for both parties that everything that involves matchday team selection and tactics, that is always the manager or head coach — that is their domain," Hughes said.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes share a close relationship(Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

"It is very important not to spill into that. We talk about football and we talk about performances but I always let Arne lead that. I will share an opinion but waiting for the right time to share these things is critical.

"You have to have an opinion. There was an opinion that got Arne into the position that he is in, so you can't shy away from that. But once you have the right person and you believe in that person, the judgment is not something that is happening on a daily basis.

"You're working together to achieve something together. Did it help that we came in at the same time? Possibly. Probably. But it is more important that we had synergy right from the first moment.

"Understanding how he is as a manager, how he wants to work, and trying your best to put them in the best possible position to have all the tools that they require. That is what I feel my job is."

Arne Slot is struggling to get the best out of Liverpool this season(Image: Simon Stacpoole/Offside via Getty Images)

On Monday, Liverpool confirmed the arrival of Jeremy Jacquet, who will come in during the summer. That $82 million (£60 million) investment is the latest indication that the Reds are prepared to spend big for the right player — and on someone with vast potential, given he is only 20.

"There is much more to come from this team than what we have shown in the first half of the season," Slot continued. "Although, once in a while, we showed the face we can show and should show even more.

"I've worked with sporting directors who are very keen on the ones they have signed. That is something that stands out with Richard and what makes him special: he is not only focused on the ones he signed.

"He is just there for Liverpool to win and not for his signings to do well. That is something that you don't always see with sporting directors. He has a low ego."

"There is great humility about Arne and he is a great communicator as well," Hughes added. "Again, I talked about the media and he is coming into a country where there is a lot more interviews — more than training at times, it feels.

"That humility, you can't kid it when you are coming across that many times. He has a low ego and a high drive and motivation, which very much fits into the club ethos.

"The age of the guys we recruited is very deliberate, to make sure we're not only competitive now, but in the mid-term future.

"That is realistically all you can control, and you know under this ownership that the long-term future will also be bright. For Arne and I, the main thing is about making sure on the pitch, short-term and mid-term, people have a lot to look forward to."