Arne Slot’s New Liverpool
We are now halfway through the Premier League season and it has brought a surprise leader. Liverpool, under new manager Arne Slot, sits alone at the top of the table six points clear with a game in hand of second place Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. This is a surprise to many as Liverpool has struggled to maintain a competitive fight for the title the previous two seasons, and it makes it all the more surprising with the departure of their successful longstanding coach Jurgen Klopp over the summer. Nevertheless, Arne Slot has brought a new charisma to his Liverpool squad, opening up avenues for players such as Ryan Gravenberch, and has created a different kind of resurgence for Mohamed Salah.
There is no denying that Liverpool is playing the best football in the Premier League this season and maybe the world. They are currently first in the Premier League and Champions League while still fighting for the FA Cup and are in the Semifinals of the EFL Cup. Not many experts saw this coming after Liverpool’s last two seasons, so how has Arne Slot dominated in his first season? Looking at Slot’s tactics, Liverpool comes out in a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 every game with a similar approach they had under Jurgen Klopp, playing aggressive, direct football. The main difference that can be seen under Slot is their flexibility from game to game. Liverpool’s squad is filled with players who can play several different positions, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch, and so on. Slot has used this to his advantage and has been able to punish teams by putting those players in key positions that not only play into their strengths but also the opponent's weaknesses.
This fluidity and flexibility can be seen in a recent matchup against Fulham where Liverpool came back to draw despite a red card in the 17th minute. Fulham have been playing well this season and currently sit ninth in the table. After being up a goal and a man 17 minutes into the game it looked like they were poised to take three points, but Arne Slot had other plans. After the red card, Liverpool scored twice, creating 15 shots and owning 63% of possession. Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson received the red card which left Liverpool’s back line more exposed, Slot’s first change came when he decided to move defensive midfielder Ryan Gravenberch into a central defender role and Joe Gomez from center back to left back helping to secure that back line. This didn’t stop the enthusiasm of the attack from Liverpool, because when Liverpool got possession of the ball Gravenberch would then return to his normal role as central midfielder. This would go on until Liverpool was down 2-1 and Slot decided to make substitutions, bringing on two attacking players in Harvey Elliott and Diogo Jota and moving to a 3-1-5. This would give them a numerical advantage up top, letting the two outside center backs find open lanes up to the attackers and then securing that number advantage once they received the ball. This helped Liverpool get another goal securing a 2-2 draw against a feisty Fulham squad. Summed up, Arne Slot was able to change his tactics within the flow of the game and adapt the team to meet the necessary commands of that specific game, and that is a large reason why Liverpool has seen so much success this season.
While Liverpool sit six points ahead of second place it will still be a challenge to secure the title with several worthy contenders breathing down their necks, especially with so much of the season left to play. Liverpool play Nottingham Forest away next in the league, who have handed them their only loss, a game in which they struggled mightily with Nottingham's low block. This will mean Arne Slot must come up with a way to adapt to this style of play, especially with their recent draw against Manchester United who played similarly. With all of this said, however, this Premier League season ends for Liverpool it is clear they have a secure future with Arne Slot steering the ship.
