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• Dewsbury-Hall: Maresca will surprise people at Chelsea

  Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall believes new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca will "surprise a lot of people" when they watch the Blues this season.

  The Italian led Leicester City straight back to the Premier League as Championship winners in his only season in charge and succeeds Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.

  The Foxes topped the second division table with 98 points, with Dewsbury-Hall a key figure in his squad as he netted 12 goals and provided 14 assists last season – his best tally in a single campaign.

  Dewsbury-Hall was also named Leicester's Player and Players' Player of the Year.

  The midfielder made the switch to West London earlier this month for £30million and is confident that Maresca will have Chelsea challenging for trophies in no time.

  "The manager was a big catalyst in wanting me to come," Dewsbury-Hall told BBC Sport.

  "I knew from Leicester, a club that went down and had a lot of problems, how he managed to galvanise that if everyone manages to buy into the system.

  "I genuinely think in a short space of time we can be pushing for minimum top four - but more than that.

  "He may be unknown for a lot of people, but he is top, top level. He will surprise a lot of people."

  Chelsea's pre-season got off to a frustrating start as they were held to a 2-2 draw by League One side Wrexham in Maresca's first game in charge on Wednesday.

  Dewsbury-Hall did not play in that match but is training with the squad in the United States and could feature in their next outing against Celtic on Saturday.

  The 25-year-old is confident the manager's tactics will come across soon, with the players buying into his style.

  "We've only been doing it for two or three weeks, but the combination plays are really quick and tidy," he added.

  "That's after two weeks. I remember he said to us at Leicester after six months or a year, there might be teething problems at the start, but it will improve.

  "Within the first week at Leicester, I was convinced this was top, top level. I felt a bit stupid; I thought I knew a lot about football, but he was teaching me things on a daily basis that I didn't really know before. He has an aura, he can be strict, or gentle and soft - he has both sides.

  "I am getting the same feedback here with the lads. They've bought into it here from minute one which is exciting. With a system and philosophy, you need everyone to buy in because, if they do, you can really achieve something."

• Slot's Liverpool success will be measured by trophies, says McAllister

  Gary McAllister says Arne Slot must be prepared to aim high by targeting trophies if he is to be successful with Liverpool.

  The Dutchman is set to begin his first season in charge of the Reds after being appointed as Jurgen Klopp's successor in May.

  Liverpool enjoyed a trophy-laden spell under the German, winning their first-ever Premier League title, as well as a Champions League, a Club World Cup, a Super Cup, an FA Cup and two EFL Cups.

  However, Slot was no stranger to success while at Feyenoord, leading the team to the Eredivisie title in 2022-23 before lifting the KNVB Cup in April during his final season with the club.

  McAllister, who won five trophies in the two years he spent at Liverpool, says Slot's success will be determined by the silverware he collects.

  "Liverpool is a club that's synonymous with winning, and when you don't win you fail," McAllister told Stats Perform.

  "When there's a new management team, you're given a little bit more time, but the facts are Liverpool's target, I felt, and as a player that played against them for most of his career, the targets that Liverpool set, you go into every tournament looking to win it.

  "You try to win every game and that's the expectation of the club and that's what makes it a very special club."

  Klopp spent nine years at Liverpool, breaking club records as his team pushed for trophies on a regular basis.

  The Reds enjoyed a club-record 68-match unbeaten run at Anfield over nearly four years in the Premier League between April 2017 and January 2021.

  Klopp also oversaw three of the four most prolific seasons in Liverpool's history, including the club-record total of 147 goals scored in 2021-22.

  Slot has admitted he has "big shoes to fill", but McAllister believes the 45-year-old will be able to live up to the high expectations left behind by Klopp.

  "Arne arriving at the club, following Klopp, realising that it's such a difficult job anyway, but to follow somebody who's done particularly well at the club over an eight, nine-year period is going to be tough, and I don't think the new manager is under any illusions," he added.

  "What I would say is he's a man that seems to be a very strong character, good personality, and he's just got to come in and be his own man and trust what he does.

  "He's done very well in his previous managerial career and coming to Liverpool I feel is a natural progression in the levels of the game that he's worked at.

  "So, everybody at the club will be deeply backing him and be right behind him, he'll have amazing support."

  Liverpool's first pre-season game under Slot ended in a 1-0 defeat to Preston North End last week before the players flew out to the United States for a three-game tour.

  They are also only one of two Premier League clubs yet to conduct any business in the transfer window so far, but McAllister urged fans to be patient with Slot while he gets settled in his new role.

  "Whenever there's a change at a club, I think the fans have got to realise that it does take time for a new manager, a new coaching group to come in and get their ideas over to the players," he said.

  "There's got to be a modicum of patience, but at Liverpool, expectation levels are very, very high and sometimes, in professional soccer, in elite soccer, patience is something that most managers don't get.

  "As much as the fans have got to be aware that everything is new and there are new ideas, Arne and the players will want to get off to a quick start.

  "I feel that this pre-season tour is going to help them start the season against Ipswich Town very strongly. I feel the games that they've got here in the US, here in Pittsburgh against Betis, and then we go to play Arsenal and Manchester United, the build-up is pretty good."

   

• Jones 'happiest he's ever been' at Liverpool under Slot

  Curtis Jones says he is "probably the happiest he's been" since Arne Slot's arrival at Liverpool.

  Jones was first promoted to the first team by Jurgen Klopp in September 2019, but despite going on to make 133 appearances for his boyhood club, he failed to nail down a place in the German's starting line-up after that.

  Last season, the 23-year-old made 36 appearances in all competitions, more than in any other season, netting five goals as Liverpool won the EFL Cup and finished third in the Premier League.

  Now, with a new manager at the helm, Jones believes Slot's more patient approach will suit him better, allowing him to secure a regular starting spot.

  "[Slot's] amazing. It's probably the happiest I've been," Jones told reporters during their pre-season camp.

  "As a style of play, it suits me. It is a clear plan. Arne is fully involved in the training, he coaches us a lot, he's big on the finer details.

  "He knows it's going to take a bit of time because it's a big change. I came around the team as a young lad. I always had a way of playing, but I had to adapt and change.

  "It wasn't anything I couldn't do. But this now is more me. I can get on the ball more. I can 'do me' more.

  "My way of playing has always been to get on the ball and play, help the team, and be comfortable on the ball.

  "I then came around a team who had world-class lads on the wing and up front. The centre-mids were always more like runners, more disciplined.

  "Now the midfielders are going to be the heart of the team. In terms of our build-up, we have to be more calm and play more as a team.

  "We're not in a rush to attack. We want to have the ball and just break teams down. In the past, it was kind of a rush. It was a bit too direct; it was up and down. Now Arne wants us to have all the ball and completely kill teams."

  Liverpool are in the United States for their three-game pre-season tour, starting with Real Betis on Friday.