Liverpool great has VITAL advice for Arne Slot as he takes 'head coach' role

Rafa Benitez has shared some important advice for incoming Liverpool manager Arne Slot. The Spaniard also followed in the footsteps of an Anfield hero.

Liverpool have had plenty of legendary managers down the years - they'll be hoping Arne Slot becomes another. The Dutchman is the new boss at Anfield, though technically not a manager. Instead, Slot has been hired as a head coach.

Regardless of the job title, it's essentially the same job. And it's one that sees him follow Jurgen Klopp in the hot seat.

It's a tough task, given the affection for Klopp at Liverpool. Following in those footsteps will be a challenge.

Rafa Benitez is one of the few who had to do the same. Benitez took over from Gerard Houllier in 2004, looking to build on everything the previous manager had done.

He did that, of course, by winning the Champions League in his very first season. While that was undoubtedly the high point of his reign, Benitez would go on to build arguably the finest Liverpool team to not win the title. The Reds' first truly world-class side since the 1980s.

And now he's got advice for Slot as the former Feyenoord boss heads to Anfield.

Rafa Benitez to Arne Slot

"There are many people at a football club with different titles, and many may think they are the ‘boss’," Benitez wrote in the Telegraph. "But there is only one person whose face is always in front of the fans once, twice or three times a week in press conferences, before and after the game.

"Coping with that pressure is massive and so is sending the right message."

"Liverpool have seen qualities in Arne that they like," he went on to say. "My biggest advice to him or to any manager is he must be himself while understanding the culture of the club and the city he is coming to work.

"Once he understands that, he has made a positive first step and he will be guided down the right path."

Yes, that's very obvious advice at the end but it is advice that should be adhered to. Liverpool are certainly in the collection of clubs that expect a manager to fit them, not the other way around. Benitez's successor, Roy Hodgson, is a fine example of how that can go wrong.

The advice on being the face of the club is an important one, too. Liverpool have slightly and deliberately diminished the role with the title, making it clear that this isn't an all-encompassing manager role.

But Slot will still be the face with the added responsibility which comes with it. Benitez is right - he needs to embrace that role, too.