Liverpool FC First-Team Coaching Staff: Staff Profiles

HEAD COACH : ARNE SLOT

D.0.B : 17 September 1978 || Nationality : Dutch

Arne Slot was appointed as Liverpool’s Head Coach and Manager in May 2024, replacing outgoing manager and club legend Jurgen Klopp.

Prior to his arrival at Anfield, Slot had managed Feyenoord in his native Netherlands for three years winning an Eredivisie title and a KNVB Cup. He also finished as runners up of the 2022 Europa League losing to Roma in the final.

Arne Slot began his career in football as a midfielder, playing 410 times for FC Zwolle, NAC Breda, and Sparta Rotterdam. After retiring from his playing career ,Slot went on to manage Cambuur and AZ Alkmaar where he was unfortunate to be stopped in the midst of a promising title run by the COVID pandemic.

Then came his successful stint as Feyenoord manager where his style of play and player fitness record attracted the interest of Liverpool. Since joining the club Slot has often remarked that his slow nature as a player has helped him in his managerial career as he had to use his knowledge of the game more than any other skill.

ASSISTANT COACH : SIPKE HULSHOFF

D.0.B : 12 January 1975 || Nationality : Dutch

Sipke Hulshoff joined Liverpool when Arne Slot came to the club where he has effectively replaced outgoing Assistant to Jurgen Klopp, Pepijn Lijnders.

He began his working relationship with Arne in 2015 when they both worked at SC Cambuur in their native Netherlands. He began his coaching career in the youth setup at Cambuur before bouncing between FC Groningen and SC Cambuur for a few years.

He served a brief stint managing both RB Ghana and Al-Arabi in Qatar before rejoining SC Cambuur where he met Slot and jointly managed the club with him. He had another brief stint as Assistant Manager at FC Volendam before once again joining up with Arne Slot at Feyenoord, first serving as the manager of their U21 team before eventually becoming Assistant Manager to Arne at the club a year later.

Hulshoff has also been part of Ronald Koeman’s staff for the Dutch National team.

ASSISTANT COACH : JOHN HEITINGA

D.0.B : 15 November 1983 || Nationality : Dutch

John Heitinga joined Liverpool in July 2024 as an Assistant Coach. He began his long playing career as a tough tackling defender at Ajax where he played 152 times before joining Atletico Madrid for a season.

He then moved to England to play under David Moyes for local rivals Everton where he played 115 games. After Everton came stints at Fulham and Hertha BSC before ultimately finishing his playing career back at Ajax in his home country.

He was also a mainstay in the Dutch National Team featuring 87 times including the 2010 World Cup Final where he was unfortunately sent off against Spain in a losing effort.

Upon retiring from his playing career Heitinga took his first coaching positions in the youth setup at Ajax before a 22 game stint as caretaker manager of the first team where he won a respectable 2.05 points per game, guiding Ajax to a third place finish in the Eredivisie and runners up of the KNVB Cup.

He moved back to England to reunite with his former manager David Moyes, taking up an assistant position at West Ham United where he decided to leave after Moyes’ departure in May 2024. He was then hired as part of compatriot Arne Slot’s staff in July of that year.

HEAD GOALKEEPING COACH : FABIAN OTTE

D.0.B : 4 December 1990 || Nationality : German

Fabian Otte joined Liverpool as head of first-team goalkeeper coaching in July 2024. He began his career with Ole Football Academy in New Zealand as a goalkeeping coach where he spent a few months before heading the goalkeeping department at the New Zealand Women’s FA.

From there he moved back to Germany as a goalkeeping coach with Hoffenheim u23 where he spent two seasons before a brief stint at Burnley under Sean Dyche. After a year with the clarets he returned to Germany where he spent three years as a goalkeeping coach with Borussia Monchengladbach.

In 2023 Otte began a combined role with the club as well as with the US Men’s National Team where he spent time as part of goalkeeping staff at the 2024 Copa America before ultimately joining up with the reds as part of Arne Slot’s coaching staff as head goalkeeping coach.

He holds a UEFA Goalkeeping A Licence and has also served as a coaching educator and lecturer for the German Football Association (DFB) and the Oceania Football Confederation. Otte has a PhD in skill acquisition training in modern football goalkeeping from the German Sport University Cologne, along with various other degrees.

GOALKEEPING COACH : CLAUDIO TAFFAREL

D.0.B : 8 May 1966 || Nationality : Brazilian

Claudio Taffarel was a Brazilian goalkeeping legend and Liverpool Number 1 Alisson’s hero. He began his career at Internacional in 1984 where he played 50 games. He then moved to Italy playing for Parma and Regianna where he played over 100 times combined before returning to Brazil with Atletico Mineiro.

In 1998 he moved to Turkish giants Galatasaray where he played 89 times before finishing his playing career back in Parma. He was a part of the famed Brazil team between 1988 and 1998 where he won 101 caps including two Copa America triumphs and two runners up medals. He is also an Olympic silver medalist and most impressively was Brazil’s starting keeper in their 1990 World Cup win as well as the runner up four years later.

Taffarel is Brazil’s most capped Keeper of all time. Following his playing career he became a goalkeeper coach with Galatasaray in 2011 where he also served two short stints as interim manager. In 2014 he began working as a goalkeeping coach for the Brazil national team before joining Liverpool in the same capacity in 2021.

LEAD PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE COACH : RUBEN PEETERS

D.0.B : 30 April 1992 || Nationality : Belgian

Ruben Peeters was the third and final coaching addition from Feyenoord in the Summer of 2024. Peeters began his career in the youth setup at KRC Genk in his native Belgium in 2015. There, he spent time as a fitness coach for the U17, U19, and U21 squads.

In 2017 he was promoted to the first teams staff where he enjoyed as part of the staff in the 18/19 Pro League title winning campaign as well as the Belgian Cup in 2021. After the Cup winning 2021 season he joined Feyenoord where he met Arne Slot and Sipke Huslhoff. There he enjoyed further success as part of the staff of the 22/23 Eredevisie winning squad, adding the KNVB Cup a year later.

Ruben then joined Liverpool as part of Arne Slot’s staff. Peeters holds a master’s degree in sports sciences from KU Leuven in his home country and has been credited with an impressive track record in his field. His helping hand in keeping key players fit is known to be the driving factor in the Anfield hierarchy pushing for Peeters to join the club with Slot and Sipke Huslhoff.

INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT COACH : AARON BRIGGS

D.0.B : 9 May 1987 || Nationality : English

Aaron Briggs began his career in football as a match analyst with Blackpool in 2007. In 2008 he joined Preston North End in the same capacity where he spent three years before moving to the youth setup at Manchester City.

In 2015 he changed roles to become a performance coach at the club working across multiple youth teams as well as the women’s team. In 2018 he served a brief stint as the assistant manager to the U23s before being promoted to a match analyst for the first team.

Aaron spent a further 2 years at Manchester City before eventually deciding to move to Monaco, first as a match analyst and then as an Assistant to Niko Kovac. After Kovac left the club Briggs became the Head Of Methodology.

He would not last long in that role as he would team up once again with Niko Kovac in 2022, this time in the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg. In July 2024 Briggs left Wolfsburg to join Liverpool where he serves as the first team individual development coach.