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Not even three months have passed since Arne Slott’s first official match in Liverpool and the Dutchman managed to achieve something that seemed impossible until yesterday. The fans of the “reds” sing his name and almost completely forget about his predecessor, Jurgen Klopp.
The team is first in the Premier League with just one defeat and is at the top of the Champions League standings having won four matches. Successes unimaginable for those who were shocked at the end of last January, when the German announced that at the end of the season he was saying goodbye to Liverpool.
The transfer planning also made an impression, as contrary to what everyone expected, Slott did not change everything, nor did he bring a boatload of players of his own choice. He acquired only two footballers, the Georgian goalkeeper of Valencia Mamardashvili and Federico Chiesa from Juventus. One is not even in the squad (will be integrated next summer) and the other is injured and has not helped at all so far.
This was the Dutchman’s first checkmate move, thus sending a message of confidence to the roster, that he is counting on it and that he will go with these players. The minimal changes also served his plan with an emphasis on team structure, discipline and a more controlled style of play.
The first changes
His first move was to change the time of the morning training and bring it earlier, at 9.15, thus modifying Klopp’s more relaxed schedule. By focusing on the details, he wanted his players and all the staff to feel more strongly that they are part of a team.
In the same direction is the establishment of the mandatory breakfast for everyone, both to control the diet of its footballers and to strengthen the ties within the AXA Training Center. The meetings of all the “cogs” in Liverpool’s well-worked machine have also increased, something that its German predecessor was not used to.
The change in the system
On the pitch, Slott is also making his mark, without fundamentally changing Liverpool’s style. He has changed the traditional 4-3-3 formation to a more controlled 4-2-3-1 system, with the Reds aiming to keep possession and dictate the pace of games, a significant change from his philosophy Klopp prioritized direct counter-attacks and creating opportunities from opponent mistakes.
Individually, he has asked his players to avoid unnecessary actions and tricks and focus on moving with or without the ball and creating better passing opportunities.
New roles for players
From there, he proceeded to make changes in the roles of his footballers. Yesterday, against Leverkusen in the emphatic 4-0, he put Hraffenberg as a defensive midfielder and his effect was catalytic, when he was in and out of the lineup under Klopp.
Also proving to be a masterful move was Diaz’s shift to a forward position with the Colombian hitting the Leverkusen net three times in his first hat-trick with Liverpool.
Slott, seeing that Nunes is not fit, shuffled the deck and came out victorious, not only with the selection of Dias, who already reached nine goals, the same as the big star Mohamed Salah, but also with the shift of Hakpo further to the left , with the Dutch international also scoring a goal, the fourth in the last three matches.
Although still too early to judge, Arne Slott is changing Liverpool in his own way and leading them to new pages of glory and triumph
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