A QUESTION TO be answered between now and the next international break: are Liverpool really All That?
Certainly Liverpool have avoided the free-for-all chaos that usually follows the fall of a managerial empire: the internal squabbling for influence; the hysterical wailings of how much better it used to be; the presence of David Moyes.
Arne has instead Slotted in, signing a single new player and largely keeping things running as Jurgen Klopp did. There have been some adjustments – most notably the conversion of Ryan Gravenberch to the holding midfield role – while Slot has also put some stabilisers on the style of play, with a greater emphasis on short passing and control in deeper areas than the wilder, elastic attacking-and-then-desperate-defending of the Klopp era.
Klopp, in fairness, was evolving this way anyway, but Slot appears to preach a more methodical approach still.
Under Klopp you could measure Liverpool’s dominance by the number of shots they rained down on the opposition goal, whereas Slot’s team choose their moments more carefully, knocking the ball about to draw an opponent’s press so as to then be able to isolate Liverpool’s wide forwards against their opposition full-backs.
This has meant Liverpool subjecting themselves to short passes in their own penalty area under intense opposition pressing: it’s less heavy-metal and more hold-your-mettle football.
But Slot is making gradual changes and Liverpool are still unafraid to go direct when it suits: those raking Virgil van Dijk passes wide to Mohamed Salah are still as effective as they were five years ago.
And so far, it’s working. Liverpool are top of the Premier League, perfect in the Champions League and over the first hurdle of the Carabao Cup. Slot has won nine of his first 10 games, the only mis-step being the defeat at home to Nottingham Forest after the September international break.
But it is by the next such break we will have a much clearer indication as to how good Liverpool are as, to now, they’ve had a very easy run of fixtures. Opta argue Liverpool’s has been the softest run across the whole league, and 10th-placed Forest are the only member of the top half of the fledgling table they have actually played.
We might be just 10 games into Arne Slot’s Liverpool tenure, but he has them top of the Premier League earlier than many expected.
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) October 14, 2024
Based on the Opta Power Rankings, they've had the easiest fixtures so far, though.
For more on Slot's start at Liverpool, read on here:… pic.twitter.com/gzbjKiaQoB
But that is all about to change. The spin-off of the fixture list’s generous welcome to Slot is that the tougher challenges are stacked on top of each other.
Beginning with Sunday’s game at home to Chelsea, Liverpool have a daunting run of seven games in 21 days. After Chelsea, they have three-straight away games against Leipzig in the Champions League, Arsenal in the Premier League, and Brighton in the Carabao Cup, before hosting Brighton in the league ahead of home games against Bayer Leverkusen and Aston Villa.
Their strong start in Europe and the forgiving format takes some of the pressure off the Champions League, but league games against Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton, and Villa will determine whether Liverpool are title contenders this season.
Slot’s consistent warning in the early weeks of the season has been that his side have to prove they can keep on winning when the schedule becomes as intense as it will be over the next three weeks, pointing out that the last time Liverpool combined the league and Champions League, they finished fifth.
If they are going to do it this time around, Liverpool need a better injury record: soft tissue muscles frayed beneath Klopp’s hectic demands in recent years, and Liverpool had the worst injury record in the Premier League in that last Champions League season to which Slot has consistently referred.
It needs to be improved this time around, but they have already lost Alisson Becker until November to a hamstring injury he had tweaked earlier in the season. But otherwise they are fully stocked, with Harvey Elliot close to a return. Liverpool’s number of injuries in recent seasons may have been a result of Klopp’s style: Klopp’s old assistant, Pep Ljinders, said Liverpool players were not asked to press, but chase.
Pressing is used to close off angles for passes and direct an opponent’s play in a certain way, but Ljinders’ chasing was with a view to winning the ball back.
Slot’s approach seems a little less demanding. Liverpool still press, but are more willing to drop off into a mid-block without the ball and allow the opponent a bit of room in their own half. The merits or otherwise are to be debated, but if it leads to fewer injuries and better availability, it will be a net gain.
Chelsea provide a proper test on Sunday, where Enzo Maresca has hewn some cohesion from the club’s chaos. It is still really Cole Palmer Football Club, but there is more consistency of selection around him. And while Chelsea have a chronic weakness at goalkeeper and are leaky defensively, this season they look like top-four contenders rather than upper mid-table fodder. Which, in fairness, is the minimum one should expect from a squad so lavishly funded.
The Premier League has been introduced to Arne Slot – over the next three weeks it is going to get to know who he is.
On TV: Liverpool v Chelsea, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League ; KO 4.30pm
