The Perfect Dish
Is Arne Slot cooking something new?
Alright, I’ll be honest, it’s a pretty good time to be a tactics guy on Merseyside right now.
We’re navigating such an interesting period. Maybe you’d rather see Liverpool win 5-0 every week. I get it. But it makes a change to have genuine puzzles to solve for once.
Arne Slot is very much in the process of figuring out how to use his new squad. That means the Reds are having to experiment with fresh ideas. And that means we’ve got things to talk about.
So I’ve got a habit of likening football to food. My long-term subscribers will know what I’m talking about. The manager is the chef. It’s his responsibility turn his group of ingredients into the perfect dish.
Slot was pretty excellent at doing that last term. He used what Jürgen Klopp bought from Tesco to establish a title-winning outfit. Everything was in sync. The right flavours popped.
The Dutchman ran everything through Mohamed Salah in attack, granting the Egyptian star freedom from the defensive side of the game while placing Dominik Szoboszlai right next to him. A man powered by Duracell.
He transformed Ryan Gravenberch into his sitting midfielder, used a variety of different players as his number nine, and ultimately managed to calm everybody down, convincing his players to prioritise control over chaos.
A wonderful job. A tasty dish. But this season, the same chef has encountered difficulties with a fresh set of ingredients, spending billions on the likes of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz.
Indeed, Liverpool lost four matches in a row recently until Wednesday’s 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. That’s how to bounce back. The performance was great, with Slot trialling a new experiment in Germany.
It was intriguing. Slot adopted a relatively basic 4-4-2 on the defensive end, with that shape morphing into a 2-3-5 in possession. Nothing too crazy.
Wirtz defended on the right, but roamed as much as he wanted once the Reds had the ball. Jeremie Frimpong — who I once compared to nduja — stayed high and wide. Isak and Hugo Ekitike started up front together. And Curtis Jones was granted a chance in the middle of the park.
There was a lot to like. I was a big fan of Slot’s midfield pairing. Right now, I’m not sure you can argue with Jones or Szoboszlai as Liverpool’s best two. Both deserve to stay in the team, and in those same spots.
Jones in particular offered a nice blend of progression and retention, competing 123 of his 129 passes. In his post-match interview, he compared Liverpool to a basketball team this season, with his aim to change that by installing a degree of control. Mission accomplished.
Slot ticked a good few boxes midweek. You always want Frimpong high and wide, check. Wirtz free to roam, check. Szoboszlai in midfield, check. Ekitike and Isak on the pitch, check. He had to compromise on a few things to make it happen, but at least it was something.
But do I think we’ve escaped the woods yet? No, far from it. I do have a few concerns thinking about what lies ahead. And I don’t think this was Slot’s eureka moment, sadly.
