One of the key reasons for appointing Arne Slot as Jurgen Klopp’s successor was that his arrival negated the need to rip up the Liverpool blueprints and start afresh.
Under Klopp, the club had built a squad that was set up to thrive within his tactical framework, with a new-look midfield sanctioned to the tune of around £150m just months after Cody Gakpo had been brought in for around £40m, and a year on from Darwin Nunez’s arrival from Benfica at an initial £64m. Throw in the addition of Luis Diaz in January 2022 for a fee that could rise to £50m and it’s clear that the building blocks for what was hoped to be a second great Reds side on Klopp’s watch were steadily being put in place.
In total, the squad building cost the Reds around £304m, hence why starting from scratch with a new coach whose ideas veered wildly away from Klopp’s would not have been conducive to the long-term plan.
Klopp’s decision to stand down at the end of the campaign, then, was a genuine shock to both the club and owners Fenway Sports Group when he told them back in November. Despite that, the nucleus of a top-class squad remains, so employing a coach with a vastly different philosophy would have been counterproductive to the years of expensive recruitment that had already been undertaken. It’s a case of evolution not revolution this summer.
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It’s why the process of their managerial replacement being described as “data driven” was not merely paying lip service to the phrase. Liverpool, as one of the leading European clubs when it comes to the exhaustive analysis of data, would be sticking to their principles throughout the search, even if the results threw up some left-field options that might not immediately excite fans and would require courage and bravery to see through.
In terms of character, it was accepted that there could be no real Klopp replacement. The German’s charisma, personality and approval rating among a fanbase that sprawls the planet was irreplaceable, but that didn’t mean the style of football needed to deviate too much from the hard-running, high-pressing diet which supporters have been fed on for much of the last decade.
Klopp broadly favoured a 4-3-3 formation across his time at Anfield, particularly when the jet-heeled pairing of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were at the club together, with Roberto Firmino excelling in the ‘false 9’ role through the middle.
The now ex-manager always insisted that the Brazilian’s brilliance helped define the position but that will do a disservice to the work undertaken on the training pitches to turn Firmino from a struggling attacking midfielder under former boss Brendan Rodgers to a striker who played the position with a selfless streak that benefitted Mane and Salah.
Behind them was a midfield that was characterised, at its best, as workmanlike to an elite level. The likes of Fabinho, Gini Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson put in the hard yards to allow the more creative players to wreak havoc in areas that could really harm the opposition, while ensuring gaps left by marauding full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson were also plugged.
The slight tweak to a 4-2-3-1 system that Slot favours theoretically allows room for another attacker in the starting XI but Liverpool rarely convinced when it was used ad-hoc by Klopp during his time at Anfield. That, perhaps, was because there was such little time to try and properly implement it before the games it was chosen for, which was usually when an injury crisis enforced it or Liverpool needed goals, like away at Real Madrid in the Champions League last year.
With time on the training field to work on the shape more consistently, however, Slot has the players at his disposal to move away from 4-3-3 to his more preferred system. The lack of depth in the defensive midfield position might mean a delve into the transfer market, though. Wataru Endo is the only natural ‘No.6’ in the senior squad and it would be unfair to expect teenager Stefan Bajcetic to immediately return to peak condition next term after what will be the best part of 18 months out with injuries.
Alexis Mac Allister can play there alongside Endo, but the Argentina international looked most comfortable when further forward. Could the 2022 World Cup winner perform as a No.10 in Slot’s lineup? Harvey Elliott is someone who could intrigue in that specific role. The England Under-21 had a great end to the campaign and will be desperate to kick on once more.
What will be fascinating to watch will be how Slot plans to use the full-backs within his ranks, particularly Alexander-Arnold, who has been operating as an inverted right-back for over a year now.
At their peak, both defenders were integral to supplying the frontmen with chances but they struggled with injuries at various points of last term and didn’t play even together nearly enough. Whether Slot reverts Alexander-Arnold back to his more traditional, wider position, keeps faith with the current plan or moves him entirely into his midfield will be instructive. As arguably the best passer in the squad, fixing the England international to long-term instructions will be an important call that will need making early.
According to data obtained by ESPN earlier this month, there are plenty of similarities between the two teams that Liverpool’s deep dive into the data, led by director of research Will Spearman, will have noted. This season, for example, Liverpool’s games featured 94 possessions per match, while Slot’s Feyenoord stood at 96 for that same period.
Liverpool’s average pass travels 17.1 meters, while Feyenoord’s goes 17.2 meters, Under Klopp, the team moved the ball upfield at an above-average rate of 1.26 meters per second, while Feyenoord were even quicker at 1.33. The Reds’ opponents completed 77% of their passes, while the sides against Slot’s Feyenoord posted 74%. On their own, such similarities are merely coincidental but together they build up a picture of a compatible playing style.
If there is a continuity that it is hoped Slot will provide when it comes to playing style and general tactical ethos, the incoming Dutchman is also tasked with improving a frankly horrendous injury record over recent years at Liverpool.
The appointment of Ruben Peeters, who worked as Feyenoord’s head of performance, is a positive step forward towards addressing a situation that saw Klopp unable to field as many as 13 first-team players last season through fitness issues. Slot’s willingness to embrace developments in sports science and the medical side of preparing for football matches was outlined as a big factor in the decision to bring him on board.
“It is a sign of the impact he has had in only two jobs as a head coach that, less than four years after stepping into his first role at AZ Alkmaar, Arne Slot has found himself one of the most sought-after managers in Europe,” writes the influential Coaches Voice. “The Dutchman’s reputation has soared in two seasons at Feyenoord, where in 2022/23 he led them to their first Eredivisie title in six years – and only their second this century.
“Along with Erik ten Hag, he is at the forefront of an exciting new generation of Dutch coaches. Slot’s achievements in a relatively short career as a head coach have established him as a manager capable of testing his skills in a more competitive league than the Eredivisie. Both in and out of possession, his teams have proven an interesting and effective watch. It would be fascinating to see if, like his countryman Ten Hag, he could transfer that to the Premier League.”
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
