Liverpool in Transition: Can Slot Fix The Reds Problems?

Liverpool has frequently surprised their fans with unexpected results in recent years. Prior to the 2022-23 season, many expected the Reds to be in contention for the league title, but in the end, they failed to even qualify for the Champions League.

Before the previous season, few predicted Liverpool to be in the race for the English Premier League title even with the transfers of top players such as Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai. Nonetheless, until early April, the Merseysiders had a good chance to win the league and even took the top spot from the 19th to the 31st round.

However, in April, Liverpool suddenly crashed out of the FA Cup and Europa League and also suffered two defeats and three draws in the Premier League, leaving them in third place.

This was Jurgen Klopp’s last season as head coach of The Reds, after which Arne Slot succeeded him.

It is quite difficult to predict how successful the Dutch coach will be, but we can point out the main problems he will face at his new club.

Liverpool’s Defensive Woes: Why Pressing Isn’t Enough & What They Need to Fix

During Jurgen Klopp’s tenure, Liverpool’s defensive performance has fluctuated. However, they have consistently lagged behind Manchester City in goals conceded and expected goals against (xGA). Even during their triumphant 2019-20 season, when Liverpool excelled in pressing, they still allowed more dangerous chances than City.

After a decline in defensive performance in the 2022-23 season, Liverpool showed improvement the following year.

Until April 2024, Klopp’s team had one of the best records for goals conceded, but xGA and visual analysis indicated that they were likely to start conceding more goals. This prediction came true in April when Liverpool started conceding an average of 2-3 goals per match.

What caused this change? Liverpool’s pressing was of the highest quality last season, enabling them to win the ball in advanced positions and quickly transition from defense to offense. 

However, when The Reds adopted a medium or medium-low block in a 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation, they encountered significant issues on the right flank of the defense and in the holding area.

Players like Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Bradley, and the central defenders responsible for covering the right half-spaces, consistently made positional errors and were easily beaten in 1v1 situations. Particularly vulnerable was Liverpool’s defense with Jarell Quansah in the center, as he frequently failed to support his teammates on the right flank.

Additionally, Liverpool has been without a top defensive midfielder for the past two years. Fabinho experienced a downturn in form in the previous season and subsequently left the team, replaced by an average-level player, Wataru Endo. 

While Endo had some standout performances, he also made critical mistakes in most matches. Despite Alexis Mac Allister’s efforts to excel in Zone 14, his ability to read the game often fell short in fully controlling defensive situations.

Perhaps Liverpool will acquire a top-quality defensive midfielder before the start of the season, which could help improve their defensive play. If not, it’s unclear how Arne Slot will be able to address the defensive issues without proper defensive reinforcements.

Liverpool’s exhaustion in April

Last season, Jurgen Klopp and his team made another attempt to compete in all the tournaments Liverpool participated in. They had previously tried this three years ago, winning the FA Cup and League Cup but falling short in the Champions League final and the Premier League title race against Manchester City.

Unfortunately, the team suffered a physical and mental slump towards the end of that season, leading to failure in both the Premier League and the Champions League.

Once again, Klopp’s team played over 50 games in the 2023-24 season, competing for all possible trophies. This resulted in a League Cup win, but by April, due to the high number of matches with minimal rest days, the team became incredibly fatigued and suffered a complete collapse in all competitions. 

If Liverpool had assessed their opportunities more rationally before the start of the season and focused solely on the Premier League and Europa League, they might have achieved better results.

This situation highlights a crucial challenge for Arne Slot: managing squad rotation effectively. How frequently he uses key players in all competitions will be vital to avoid the burnout that plagued Liverpool last season.

Last season, Liverpool conceded more frequently and scored fewer goals in the first 30 minutes of matches compared to Manchester City and Arsenal. Klopp’s team often had to come back from being 0-1 down on numerous occasions, expending significant energy to maintain a high tempo.

In contrast, City and Arsenal frequently opened the scoring and could afford to slow down the tempo. This was especially true for Guardiola’s team, which often played at a very controlled pace, conserving energy for the end of the season and winning all their Premier League matches in April and May.

Arne Slot will need to focus on the way Liverpool starts matches, as it could significantly improve their results.

Maximizing Goal-Scoring Opportunities: Can Gakpo & Jota Deliver the Goals Liverpool Crave?

Another problem that has often hindered Liverpool is the poor conversion of chances. According to their expected goals (xG), Darwin Núñez and Luis Díaz should have scored at least 13 more goals last season than they did, managing only 19 goals.

Additionally, Mohamed Salah failed to capitalize on many chances in the second half of the season, which had a direct impact on the team’s results.

While the coach may not be able to directly influence the conversion of chances, utilizing Cody Gakpo more frequently in the starting lineup instead of the inconsistent Luis Díaz or the unpredictable Darwin Núñez could be beneficial. Compared to these two, Gakpo has a much better conversion rate.

Furthermore, if Diogo Jota can avoid frequent injuries, manager Arne Slot may consider starting him more often than Jurgen Klopp did. Jota also has a consistently high conversion rate, which could significantly boost Liverpool’s goal-scoring capabilities.

Liverpool Looks for Fresh Ideas to Boost Their Attack

Few people paid attention last season to the fact that Liverpool’s positional attacks lacked the structure and variety of those employed by Manchester City and Arsenal.

Jurgen Klopp primarily emphasized deep passes into the final third from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk and creative penetrating passes into the penalty area from Alexis Mac Allister. Liverpool was also highly dependent on Mohamed Salah’s creativity and goals in the opponent’s penalty area.

If any of these players were absent due to injury or experiencing a dip in form, Liverpool immediately had problems with creating dangerous chances.

At the same time, Klopp’s team often depended on pressing and counter-pressing to generate opportunities, as these elements of their game frequently led to chance creation.

Liverpool management is surely anticipating new, interesting ideas in attack from Arne Slot, which will help the team become more varied and unpredictable for opponents.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, Jurgen Klopp’s departure was very unpleasant news for Liverpool fans. 

The German coach led Liverpool to the league title in 2020 and won the Champions League in 2019. However, Liverpool faced certain problems over the last four years that Klopp never solved.

The team conceded more goals than their rivals and displayed inconsistent results from season to season. Towards the end of the season, they also experienced exhaustion on multiple occasions and encountered issues in attack due to Klopp’s personnel decisions, among other factors.

Arne Slot steps in to replace a legendary coach who successfully restored the club’s former glory during his tenure at Liverpool. Slot now has a genuine opportunity to address these problems and further strengthen Liverpool. 

I am optimistic that the Dutch specialist can succeed, and Liverpool will be able to compete fiercely with Manchester City and Arsenal for the title once again.