After one of the most painful matches in his period as coach of Liverpool FC, Arne Slot analyzes calmly. The decisive factor in the 2-1 home defeat against arch-rival Manchester United on Sunday was the vulnerability in standard situations and missing many opportunities, he says in the press conference. Occasionally he uses a touch of humor. When asked about some questionable decisions, he subtly avoids making accusations towards the arbitration.
Slot navigates into unknown territory in an atmosphere of crisis. Never before has he lost four matches in a row as a trainer in professional football – it never came to this at AZ and Feyenoord. “A challenge,” he calls this situation. Although he tries to put it into perspective; When he started last season as Jürgen Klopp’s successor, it was “the biggest challenge” of his career.
Undeniably, Slot has serious problems after the painful blow against Manchester United. That won a league match at Anfield for the first time since January 2016. The match, one of the most charged confrontations in top English football, should have been a turning point for Liverpool. Before the international break, they lost successively to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray (Champions League) and Chelsea – so Liverpool had to respond.
Stiff and unstructured
But things go wrong against Manchester United in a similar way as against Crystal Palace and Chelsea. With many attacking changes, Liverpool fought back from an early deficit in the second half and equalized through Cody Gakpo. It still loses in the final phase when the defensive organization is away from a corner kick. United defender Harry Maguire heads in to hand Liverpool their fourth consecutive defeat (all competitions). This last happened to the club in 2014, at the time under Brendan Rodgers.
This means that Slot, national champion with Liverpool last season, faces his biggest test as a trainer. For the first time he has to deal with major sporting setbacks, in a season when expectations are particularly high. Against Manchester United, Liverpool looked stiff and unstructured at times, far removed from the fluid positional play of last season. Liverpool started the season flawlessly, partly due to several victories in the final phase. After the third league defeat, it drops to fourth place.
This year, the club management wanted to build on the success of last season. The team had to become even more dominant and ruthless in possession of the ball. Partly for this reason, around 500 million euros was invested in mainly attacking players. Liverpool were seen as the winners of the transfer window with the arrival of playmaker Florian Wirtz and strikers Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak.
Defensively vulnerable
The underlying reason for these purchases was that Liverpool is often fought with a very defensive style of play, Slot noticed in the second half of last season. Sometimes with success, such as Newcastle United, which defeated Liverpool in the League Cup final with clever tactics. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to play through it,” Slot said recently. That’s why the club brought in top-level attackers, with the idea that they can “unlock” those low defensive blocks.
The complication for Slot is that the transformation to a new, rejuvenated team is proving particularly difficult. While Liverpool were superior in controlling games last season due to their good positional play and aggressive pressing, the energy and balance are now regularly lacking. During the transition, large spaces are created in midfield, something that was already visible in the first competition match against Bournemouth. The result is more goals conceded: already eleven after eight rounds, compared to only three at the same time last season.
Slot is shifting around a lot, looking for the right composition, where the strongest starting eleven was fixed last season. He has not yet been able to find the ideal position for top signing Wirtz, who creates many chances, but has not yet scored a goal or provided an assist.
The backs that were bought, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, look defensively vulnerable. Attacking midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, who was important last season as a driving force behind the pressing, now regularly plays right back. Ryan Gravenberch, crucial as a ‘connector’ in midfield, was a phase central defender against Chelsea. All these changes lead to a lack of coherence.
More physical football
A crisis of form for star player Mo Salah, top scorer last season, is causing problems in the final phase of the attack. A moment against United, after fifteen minutes, is telling. Liverpool opens on the right to Salah, but his attack is not good, after which Liverpool loses the ball and United breaks away. Later he misses big opportunities, as he did earlier against Chelsea.
“We have fewer special moments this season, fewer brilliant actions,” Slot said last Friday. Striker and record purchase Isak (145 million euros) is struggling to find his rhythm, partly because he missed a large part of the preparation due to a conflict with his previous club Newcastle United over the transfer to Liverpool.
In addition, Liverpool is finding it difficult to cope with the trend that the style of play in the Premier League this season is more focused on long balls and standard situations, such as corner kicks and long throw-ins. So: much more physical football, with more duels. “Liverpool doesn’t seem to be able to deal with that,” said Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports on Sunday evening.
Acquisitions such as Frimpong, Kerkez and Wirtz are relatively small and therefore lack length in aerial duels. Five of the eleven goals conceded in the Premier League have already come from standard situations. Competitor Arsenal has specialized in attacking corner kicks in recent years.
In the background, the processing of the loss of Diogo Jota, the popular attacker who died in a tragic traffic accident in July, plays a role. “It was always going to be a difficult season,” captain Virgil van Dijk said two weeks ago, without naming Jota. “That is not only because of what happens on the field, but also because of what happened off the field.” Slot will also have to manage those emotions in the near future.
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