Liverpool FC News: Richard Hughes' EXTRAORDINARY Ruben Amorim prophecy | OneFootball

Liverpool's decision to focus their energy on bringing Arne Slot to the club in 2024 was a huge decision for the executives to have made and in the end it's proven to be an inspired call.

For the sole reason that Liverpool managed to win the Premier League last season, the choice to hire Slot has to be considered a good one. He's everything you'd want in a Jurgen Klopp replacement.

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Tactically, he's similar to the German, but there is more willingness to be flexible and play with more surety and less risk-taking, in addition to the energy that Slot has to give to the head coach role.

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But things could have been very different, with the knowledge that Manchester United's Ruben Amorim was considered briefly back in 2024 and a huge judgement call ended talks with him.

Hughes' remarkable Amorim prophecy

Initial talks with Amorim took place when the head coach/manager role was vacant at Liverpool and it was widely reported at the time that a decision was made not to proceed with Amorim because of his lack of willingness to be flexible with his style of play - after all, he plays with three centre-backs.

Liverpool have always played with a back-four, it's almost ingrained in the fabric of the club and recent history has shown a certain affinity with a 4-3-3 system, which Slot has slightly adapted to create a 4-2-3-1 system, giving the No. 10 a role further up the pitch in front of a double-pivot.

Speaking on The Overlap US, the Reds' Chairman Tom Werner praised the decision to appoint Slot.

He said: "I want to give great credit to Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards because they identified Arne [Slot] right away as their top choice. they were not trying to duplicate the extraordinary qualities of Jurgen. They were looking for somebody who could bring their own ideas."

Signing a manager that was similar but different to Klopp, without having to sacrifice a lot of the work that had already been implemented was essential. United, however, fell into the trap of bringing someone in who did not have the squad he wanted and so they had to back Amorim financially.

£200m later across the January and summer transfer windows and United are no further along, except they've willingly chosen to play a tactical system that neither the fans nor the players want.

Of course, most Liverpool fans will take great pride in seeing United struggling under Amorim, as they have done under each manager that has tried to succeed since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013.

But for the Red Devils to have bought into his philosophy and for their form to still be as bad as it is, must be a huge concern with those connected with the Manchester club. To say that Richard Hughes prophesied the impact that Amorim''s appointment might have is perhaps a stretch, but he certainly knew that Liverpool were better off picking an up and coming prospect from the Netherlands instead.

The Portuguese coach has a points per game ratio of 1.34 across 47 matches with United, which is an extraordinary statistic. That can broken down into 18 wins, nine draws and 20 losses.

One report in the Daily Mail from earlier this week suggests that £12m in compensation could paid out to Amorim if he is axed within the next seven weeks, prior to completing one year in charge.

Within that window, the Reds host United at Anfield on October 19 and given Liverpool's recent history of helping the rivals' boards make up their mind with embarrassing defeats on the field, we might see Slot get a chance at rub salt into their wounds. The players will be licking their lips.