A cautious new dawn at Liverpool in Jurgen Klopp’s absence

LONDON – When Liverpool’s Fenway Sports Group owners appointed Jurgen Klopp in the autumn of 2015, they signed up the frontman who defined their club for the next nine years. The club had not been managed by someone as dominant since Bill Shankly retired in 1974. Without him, a very different Liverpool Football Club is making tentative steps.

So far, Arne Slot has overseen two friendly wins, a 1-0 defeat of Real Betis in Pittsburgh was followed by a 2-1 defeat of Arsenal in Philadelphia. In the early hours of Aug 4, they face Manchester United in South Carolina.