By Mark Strickland
After Jurgen Klopp decided to step down at the end of last season, Liverpool appointed Feyenoord head coach Arne Slot. It has been a seamless transition. It has been close to perfection.
Liverpool ended the thirty-year-wait in 2019-20, winning 28 out of 31 to be confirmed champions with seven fixtures remaining. And it is to those standards that Slot is aspiring to in his first season in the English Premier League.
The Reds have won 18 out of 21 in all competitions, are seven points clear in the Premier League, and are top of the Champions League.
Slot has passed the test with just one minor – a 1-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest which has proved just a bump on the road.
Liverpool played poorly at the Emirates against Arsenal, but Darwin Nunez weighted a pass when it mattered for Mohamed Salah to rescue a 2-2 draw. Salah then looked to have single-handedly dragged the Reds to a 3-2 victory at Newcastle – as he did away to Southampton.
However, Caoimhin Kelleher – who has been in the kind of form that would have kept Alisson out of the team had he been fit – made an uncharacteristic error when in the 90th minute, he decided to leave a free-kick from Bruno Guimaraes, having not seen Fabian Schar, who slid home from an acute angle.
Reds supporters had forgotten what it feels like not to win.
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“Calmness and composure” was the first change under Slot, Feyenoord fan and Liverpool writer Joe Baker noticed when we spoke to him about how Slot’s Reds compared to his Eredevisie-winning side.
Liverpool burnt out at the end of March last season under the stewardship of Klopp, but there is no danger of that happening this time.
Baker praised the communication of the Reds’ first-ever head coach and contrasted it to that of the former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think Erik ten Hag gave a great representation of how the Dutch people can sometimes be in conversation,” he said.
“I don’t think he seemed a very good communicator at Manchester United. You could tell it in the media.”
On differences between Klopp and Slot on the pitch, he said: “With Feyenoord, there would be more of a 4-2-3-1.”
“He also played with a more out-and-out central defensive midfielder. Liverpool don’t necessarily have that right now.
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Liverpool were unsuccessful in their pursuit of Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad in the summer, so Slot converted the position of an existing player.
Baker said: “It’s been incredible how much he’s adapted Ryan Gravenberch to play in that role.”
Only for the first time at St. James’ Park was the Gravenberch-Alexis Mac Allister easily breached.
“Slot is more than happy to let the opponent have the ball.”
Indeed, Liverpool have been notably more selective and more controlled with their press.
This has been the case from the first home league game of the season – a patient and uneventful 2-0 victory over Brentford.
Finally, “his use of the front three has been very un-Slot,” added Baker.
He may sign an “out-and-out number nine” with Diogo Jota injury-prone and Nunez inconsistent.
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Although few could’ve wished for a better start under Slot, there remains an uncertainty over a few in the squad and moreover, whether or not The Reds are actually in the mould of what the manager wants.
Whilst it may still be a work in progress, picking up points as rivals drop them looks to be a pretty decent recipe for success so far this season…
