Gary Neville believes Liverpool must get their post-Jurgen Klopp era "right" but says the Reds have a better set-up to avoid similar collapses to Manchester United and Arsenal.
Feyenoord manager Arne Slot has emerged as the preferred candidate to replace the German as manager at the end of the season. Both Liverpool and the Dutch giants have been in negotiations over the soon-to-be-vacant position with Slot expressing his intentions to take over at Anfield.
Klopp will step down after nine years on Merseyside; a period which includes Premier League and Champions League success. In Klopp's final season, Liverpool have mounted an unlikely title challenge following their torrid campaign last year.
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With the summer influx, plus additions of Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes, Liverpool have bolstered their ranks and Neville believes the Reds are better prepared to avoid similar struggles to Arsenal and United after their long-standing managers Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson departed.
"We don’t know how that’s going to go. The reality of it is that we’ve seen the post-Arsene Wenger era at Arsenal has been difficult.," he told Sky Sports. "The post-Sir Alex Ferguson era at Manchester United has been difficult. (Jurgen) Klopp is massive in Liverpool so they’ve got to try to get that right.
"What Manchester United and Arsenal had when they replaced those two managers was a quite traditional, old-school approach, where the managers ran the club.
"They didn’t really have a sporting department beneath them. They were the heads of the sporting department. They were the heads of recruitment, sporting director, manager and coach – all in one.
"Liverpool have a better setup, with more depth and more structure. There’s still going to be an element of risk replacing Klopp with anybody but it has to happen. Klopp is leaving."
