A look at Liverpool’s midfield issues and why Arne Slot has the perfect chance to fix it before next week’s trip to Newcastle United
Arne Slot, head coach of Liverpool, during a pre-season training session at AXA Training Centre(Image: Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
If the next stage of Arne Slot’s Liverpool evolution is now bordering on a revolution, there is at least continuity in his Anfield engine room. While the Reds have a new full-back pairing of Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez starting to move away from the now legendary tandem of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson – the latter of whom remains a high-class alternative for Slot – there is also a new leader of the line in £79m striker Hugo Ekitike.
Florian Wirtz has arrived for a club-record fee of £116m from Bayer Leverkusen and the exciting Germany international is much more the archetypal No.10 to the one preferred last season in the tireless, hard-running Dominik Szoboszlai, who started deeper against Bournemouth on Friday evening.
But on the whole, Slot still has the same options available when constructing his weekly jigsaw puzzle in midfield.
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There are issues to resolve via the training pitch just now, with the Premier League champions looking too open and exposed in transitions and turnovers and it’s telling that the two goals shipped in the 4-2 win over Bournemouth means they have already conceded as many goals from counter-attacks as they did across the entirety of last season.
The return of the metronomic Ryan Gravenberch, with his poise, balance and ability to take care of the ball in tight spaces, will undoubtedly help after his suspension on Friday, but Slot fixing the issue of his team being brutally countered – a theme also on display in the Community Shield against Crystal Palace – will go a long way towards determining how many points are on the board by the September international break.
The big plus point for the Reds head coach and his staff is that kicking things off on the opening weekend means they have 10 days between games before their next assignment at Newcastle United on August 25.
That match, given the ongoing Alexander Isak situation, promises to be particularly explosive, even more so given it is the Magpies’ first home fixture of the new campaign.
How Liverpool stand up to the physical and intense Newcastle will have a huge say in the result and tightening up the midfield gaps when out of possession is something that must be achieved before that visit to the powder-keg that will be St James’ Park on the night.
So that time on the training pitch between the two fixtures could yet prove to be integral to ironing out the wrinkles of pre-season. It means extra sessions and building up the base levels of fitness alongside the technical and video analysis meetings before that game with Eddie Howe’s men.
A quiet week to work on the details and the specifics might be all Slot needs to toughen up the soft underbelly visible at times so far this summer.
“If you are going to challenge for every trophy – which Liverpool wants to do every season – then you need a lot of players in certain areas and not only in numbers but quality as well,” says Reds 2005 Champions League winner Igor Biscan. “I am sure the manager and the club know what they need to do to challenge for all these trophies. For sure they have different [midfield] styles [to choose from].
“I am sure they will be well covered in midfield. We are all very excited to see how this season is going to go. The number of clubs on a very high level this season, it is really difficult to predict exactly who is going to win it this season.
“Chelsea took some time to gel and find the way to play and to make that chemistry but they look strong; a young team, energetic and the fact they won the Club World Cup against Paris Saint-Germain, who dominated the English teams in the Champions League, that says enough.
“Arsenal are waiting for this one season when they put all the things together to be able to win it and bought some good players in during the market, so they will challenge again. Manchester City wants to do better and you can tell from the Wolves game (City won 4-0 at Molineux) it will be different to last season.
“So there are so many teams to challenge but our fans, the people who watch the Premier League will enjoy it and I am sure Liverpool will do the same again as last year but I know it will be more difficult.”
Having had a truncated pre-season, which came on the back of a campaign that saw him sit out the final fortnight with an injury, Alexis Mac Allister will have felt an immense benefit from his 72-minute cameo against Brentford, while Gravenberch’s return, after missing both the Community Shield and Premier League opener, cannot be overstated either.
Lucas Leiva, who made nearly 350 appearances across a 10-year Liverpool career, says of the current midfield options: “Curtis Jones has been growing every year and what a season he had last time, maybe people didn’t expect him to play as much as he did and fair play to him.
“He did so well, played a big part and scored some important goals as well. Harvey Elliott as well, has just been with the national team (England Under-21s) and played his part. He is still young, still growing. He wants to play more so of course the competition is kept very high. I think they can keep growing and Liverpool in midfield, they are very strong.
“Florian will add something that maybe he (Slot) feels they didn’t have before, he will add something more. What a player [Mac Allister] has been, I think people of course understand how good he is but I am sure inside the team they appreciate a lot what he has done.
“For me, he’s a player that is very difficult to find because he’s technically a world-class player, technically, but also defensively he is fantastic. He is a player that plays both phases in a very good way and I am sure he is someone who can link defence to attack and break the rhythm during the game and when he needs to keep possession.
“He’s a fantastic player and he is only getting better. He has the hunger to succeed in a Liverpool shirt and the national team, I hope he just keeps focused on the Liverpool shirt [and not Argentina] because Brazil will have big problems! (laughs).”