I'm uncomfortable discussing Arne Slot but I love one thing I see from Liverpool boss

I'm uncomfortable discussing Arne Slot but I love one thing I see from Liverpool boss

Exclusive interview with Igor Biscan on Liverpool, his coaching career and what qualities he would like to take from Arne Slot

Former Liverpool favourite Igor Biscan (Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

It's the final question of the interview that brings out the broadest smile from Igor Biscan. The former Liverpool midfielder, now in charge of Qatari Stars League side Al Ahli, has mused on a range of topics from the effects of the 2022 World Cup in the region, his own coaching style and what he likes most about Arne Slot.

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But when the 2005 Champions League final is inevitably put to Biscan, he can't help but cast his mind back to one of the most famous nights in Anfield history.

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"Oh yeah! What can I say?" he tells the ECHO. "Time flies, time really flies. But the memories, they stay.

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"And they will always stay and it is just something...you are not even there to dream when you start playing football. To win this trophy and to win it the way we won it, it's just unbelievable still. Even now, still, when you think about it, it is just incredible."

It's two decades now since Biscan's finest hour in football. An unused substitute on the night but he played a big part in helping Rafa Benitez's side throughout their march to Istanbul, featuring in eight games across the campaign before the showpiece with AC Milan, which was won on penalties after three second-half goals in six unforgettable minutes even the score up at the Ataturk Stadium.

Now a coach in Qatar, Biscan is able to tap into the expertise of former bosses like Benitez and the man who brought him to Liverpool, Gerard Houllier, to use in his own brand of management.

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"It's never easy to speak about yourself, I would love to play football with a lot of energy, with the ball, take risks, build up from the back," Biscan says of his own style. "Most of my generation of coaches watched and model our philosophy of football on Pep Guardiola and similar coaches.

"Spanish influence with Spanish coaches is strong here [in Qatar] and the experience from my playing days also plays a part in how I see football. So, of course, high pressing, high tempo, that is something I would love my team to do.

"Sometimes you need to adapt to the players and in the end, no matter what style or football you prefer, the most important thing for any coach is to bring the best out of his players in the end. That is the most the coach can do and this is what I try to do with my players."

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And what might he look to take from Premier League champion Slot? The Reds boss was able to clinch the title inside his first year at Anfield having arrived in the summer of 2024 as something of a relative unknown, despite his success at Eredivisie club Feyenoord.

For Biscan, there is a sense of unease in critiquing the current Liverpool head coach, but there is one particular string to Slot's bow that the Croatian would love to incorporate.

He says: "I mean, to speak about someone like him, who is now one of the world's best coaches, from my perspective, I don't feel comfortable. But it is his calmness that I like, for sure.

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"I would say it is a very good thing for any coach. It is not easy to stay composed at such a high level and for a club like Liverpool, in the beginning, the game on Friday against Brentford, when everything goes nuts in the last 10 minutes, and you need to make your decisions, all of them more or less are likely to be correct.

"So to come after such a big personality as Mr Klopp was and to do it this well, shows you we are talking about someone who knows their job and someone who has shown a positive personality that reflects the way his team are playing and the way he has been accepted by the people surrounding the club, the media and fans, we are talking about a high-level manager."

Biscan is speaking ahead of his second season in charge of Doha-based Al Ahli. A fourth-place finish in a 12-team league last time was a respectable one and he highlights the differences between the Stars League and the bigger, more high-profile Saudi Pro League, which has invested hundreds of millions on European talent over the last two years.

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Biscan's squad is much more modest. He has fewer household names for European football fans but enters the new campaign with Germany international Julian Draxler, while Reds legend Roberto Firmino now also plies his trade in Qatar, having recently switched to champions Al Sadd.

"Of course, when you compare the leagues [Qatar to Saudi], you have to compare the countries as well and Saudi Arabia is a massive country, you know, much bigger than Qatar," Biscan says.

"Then you can compare the tactics or the strategy, I would say, of getting these leagues on a higher level. One of the major differences is Qatar already had a World Cup, so maybe people thought it would peak around the World Cup and it is interesting to see how it will continue after the World Cup.

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"Saudi Arabia, I would say, is just at the beginning but it is really, really strong. Now it is there to be seen if they are going to continue like this or slow down. It is not easy to continue at this level of investing and bringing in all these big stars.

"Saudi is on another level to the other leagues here in the Gulf region and also bigger, wider regions. Qatar is also, I would say, doing a really clever job in bringing in big names but also trying to develop the league with younger players.

"Each team has two players who are preparing to become national players and it has been a long story of them developing young players in their academies for a stronger national team one day.

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"So the leagues are similar in ways but also different in some. Long-term, they are trying to establish something that maintains for a longer period of time. It is very difficult to predict how Saudi will go but after the World Cup.

The 47-year-old adds: "I mean, all the people who came to Doha to watch a World Cup in 2022, they might have an impression or experienced this country and this place like myself and back then I can say my experience was a very positive one.

"I was just a visitor, I was not working or living here but the lifestyle and the place now, it is very positive. It is quiet, it is in order, it is safe to live with your family and, of course, it is football, it is a job and you have the best facilities to use, the environment to work and the stadium and facilities are of a high standard. So it is really a good place to be.

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"It's absolutely true the standard has been raised [since the World Cup]. It is not just things around football but the infrastructure, the roads, the buildings and parts of the city that have been developed, all on another level. It is a city that is functioning in the structure and everything is in this place. There are interesting things to do and the job is here, the tools are there and it is a really nice place."

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