Liverpool have been the strongest team in the first half of the 2024-25 season. At the end of 2024, they firmly lead in the English Premier League and Champions League.
Like many pundits, I had big doubts about the appointment of Arne Slot. It seemed that the Dutch coach was not yet ready to compete in the Premier League as he only had experience in the Dutch Eredivisie.
This Liverpool team under Arne Slot. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/epBr8TRoQ0
— Samuel (@SamueILFC) December 22, 2024
Yet, Slot has silenced skeptics by not only preserving the high-pressing intensity and transitional play that became Liverpool’s hallmark under Klopp, but by enhancing it with his own tactical philosophy. Let’s look on how he made it work.
The Reds’ Transition Machine
Under Jürgen Klopp, the Reds were one of the best teams in world soccer in terms of the quality of quick vertical attacks, especially in speed transitions from defense to offense.
Of course, the German coach improved the organization of positional attacks in the past years, but still, Liverpool’s main strength was in successful counter-pressing followed by quick attacks.
Trent x Lucho 🔗 pic.twitter.com/rzTBBVvHWw
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 23, 2024
In their best matches, the Reds excelled at forcing mistakes from opponents through effective pressing and counter-pressing, allowing them to exploit open spaces to score goals. Plus, they were excellent at counter-attacking after corner kicks and set-pieces.
This season, it is noticeable that Arne Slot continues to work on improving the interplay and timing of Liverpool’s transitions from defense to offense, striving for lightning-speed movements. The Reds continue to be the top team in the Premier League in this aspect of the game.
Gravenberch: Slot’s Masterpiece
One of Arne Slot’s main achievements is to solve Liverpool’s biggest problem of the last few years – the lack of a top-class defensive midfielder capable of effectively progressing the ball into the opponent’s half.
After Fabinho experienced a decline in form, Liverpool continuously struggled in the defensive phase of the game, specifically in the position of the holding midfielder.
Ryan Gravenberch vs Spurs:
He’s so good people don’t even mention it anymore.
But it shouldn’t be forgotten just how good he is
[@LFC_ERYAN]pic.twitter.com/01vuVRGjZA
— Watch LFC (@Watch_LFC) December 23, 2024
The unsuccessful attempt to sign Martín Zubimendi left Liverpool without a key player in this critical role. However, Arne Slot has remarkably transformed Ryan Gravenberch, who previously played as a box-to-box midfielder, into one of the best defensive midfielders in European soccer this season.
Gravenberch has been exceptionally effective when coming off the press and provides the team with a very high level of passes when building their attacks. At the same time, in the defensive phase, paired with Alexis Mac Allister, he does a huge amount of work. Gravenberch reads the game perfectly and makes a lot of useful actions.
The presence of such a player in midfield has greatly enhanced Liverpool’s performance, both defensively and offensively.
Beyond Klopp: Slot’s Impact on Liverpool’s Defensive Philosophy
Arne Slot’s tenure as Liverpool’s head coach has led to a marked improvement in the quality of the team’s defensive play, in the middle and low defensive blocks. At the same time, the team’s performance mainly relies on the form of key players like Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk, and Ryan Gravenberch.
This season, Liverpool has seen a significant increase in compactness while employing their 4-4-2 and 4-2-4 formations, enabling the players to better control opponents’ attacking actions in both the mid and low blocks.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 22, 2024
Unlike Jürgen Klopp, Arne Slot emphasizes the importance of players being able to transition intelligently and disciplined into a 4-4-2 mid-block. This allows them to effectively cover the areas in front of their penalty area.
In past seasons, Liverpool defended in a 4-3-3 formation, which has proven too vulnerable given the current realities of the game. In addition, the players often didn’t understand how they needed to operate in different situations.
Virgil Van Dijk 🤭
— E4 (@LFC_ERYAN) December 23, 2024
So, Slot has successfully addressed these issues, and as a result, Liverpool have the best figures in terms of expected goals conceded. Although it should be noted that after Ibrahima Konaté got injured, the situation in defense significantly worsened, as the team lacks a suitable alternative for his position.
The Fatigue Factor: Learning from Klopp’s Mistakes
Arne Slot’s most important task is to effectively manage his team’s resources throughout the long season. Liverpool have several key players for whom there are no fully capable alternatives, so rotation of the squad is very important for the Reds.
So far, Arne Slot has actively been using rotation in League Cup matches. Also in many games against mid-table teams and underdogs in the Premier League and Champions League, his team has adopted a more conservative approach, intentionally avoiding high-intensity attacks and pressing.
Arne 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/JV9GJGUBgO
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 22, 2024
It is also quite interesting to see whether Arne Slot will use his main players in the two League Cup semi-final games against Tottenham or will rest them ahead of the crucial Premier League and Champions League clashes.
The success of Liverpool in the current season will depend on these decisions of Arne Slot. Jürgen Klopp admitted that in April of the previous season, his team suffered a catastrophic slump precisely because of fatigue, which was worsened by the participation of many key players in the semifinals and final of the League Cup.
Diaz with the double 🫶 pic.twitter.com/o5S4Fh7Bmt
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 22, 2024
It should not be forgotten that Klopp won the Champions League and Premier League with Liverpool in the years when the team did not reach the final stages of the League Cup and FA Cup.
However, I sincerely hope that Arne Slot will take into account Klopp’s successes and mistakes and direct his focus toward the truly important tournaments – victories in these competitions will be cherished for generations to come.
