The Start Of The Slot Era
When I initially prepared to write this, I figured I would start with, “Well, the honeymoon phase is over”, or something along those lines. I know we certainly all felt that way after Liverpool’s performance against Nottingham Forest last Saturday. However, after a bounce back win over AC Milan in the San Siro on Tuesday to start their Champions League campaign, as well as just time to reflect, I think it is definitely premature to start being harsh on Arne Slot. What follows are my initially thoughts on new look Liverpool, and my expectations for the season ahead.
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The Positives
Let’s start with the (many) positives. First, the team is 4-1 in 5 legit games under the new boss. This is a metric everyone would have taken in May after Jurgen left. They have a dominant win over their bitter rival in that rival’s building. The Reds also have that aforementioned impressive away win to start the Champions League.
As Ryan O’Hanlon said in a recent ESPN piece “…Liverpool’s defense remains rock solid in a way we never really saw under Jurgen Klopp”. The team, as a whole, has looked poised, controlling the majority of the games they have played to this point. Mo Salah, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz look rejuvenated, Ryan Gravenberch looks like a revelation. The vibes, they are high, as they say, and I believe they should be!
The Negatives
That all being said, we have to acknowledge some negatives. First, the performance against Nottingham Forest was extremely frustrating. I believe Liverpool looked the more dominant and likely to score, but they didn’t. The xG, according to “The xG Philosophy”, was still just 0.99 to 0.70 in Liverpool’s favor. This means that yes, they probably should have scored. However, it certainly was not some completely lopsided performance where the Reds can feel hard done by.
They were often slow and plodding, lacking the cutting edge necessary to beat a team that was sitting in. This could be chalked up to a starting eleven that was made up of players coming off of international duty, or a team still working through a new system. Either way, time will tell if the slower pace under Arne will catch up to them if they don’t score early or worse, they concede early.
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This leads to the other personal concern of mine: the lack of a true #9. I love the chaos agent that is Darwin Nunez. But we know he was a Jurgen signing, meant to be a striker that could thrive in the chaos of Klopp heavy metal football. Under Slot, he has only made substitute appearances. I have real questions on whether he has the technical ability to thrive in this new system. Meanwhile, I love Diogo Jota. His presence as a “false nine”/striker for this team is something I can believe in, but we know his injury history and the reality is that he is not a true striker. I wonder if Saturday showed that this team will need a true 9 to pull together this new, controlled style of play.
The Early Book On Slot
All of this leads me to look at five games and believe that, to this point, we have no reason to doubt that this project is heading in the right direction. In the Premier League, I think this team is closer to Arsenal and City than many wanted to believe. I do think that Saturday showed why they may not be able to ultimately win the league. But I think they can certainly make it interesting and test those two in a way that will potentially knock one out the race sooner than they would like because of the pressure Liverpool will put on them to keep winning.
Meanwhile, I certainly believe this a team capable of making a long run in the Champions League. The team is going to have to learn to come from behind in this new system or Arne is going to have to be willing to let a little chaos happen that can help with a comeback. Nevertheless, I believe the pieces are all there for a cup challenge.
Happy days are ahead Reds, enjoy them and embrace the Slot Era! As always, YNWA!
