Arne Slot’s debut season was superb but guiding a vastly changed squad shaped by collective grief to a successive league title is a different kettle of fish
Premier League champions Liverpool will be mounting a defence of their title with huge expectations after spending north of £270m on a proactive rebuild. Can they retain it amid fierce competition from the rest of the league?
The manager
Arne Slot performed so brilliantly in his debut season with a squad he inherited from his predecessor Jurgen Klopp, but how will he fare with essentially his own group of players?
Last season Slot deployed a midfield three of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai that perfectly complemented each other. The toughness, technical level, and brilliance of this group was one of the key reasons why Liverpool won the league, as Fulltime Herald has previously explained.
This season, that has changed with the addition of £116m man Florian Wirtz. In no way is that a negative of course but it is something different. It brings in some uncertainty, and that might be influential down the line.
Slot will need to display his tactical brilliance to get the best out the squad.
The old and the new
The natural expectation is that new signings would take some time to gel but Liverpool did enough against Crystal Palace in the Community Shield to belie that idea. As a team they were coherent and free-flowing.
It was in fact the old guard who perhaps did not perform up to their usual high standards – Virgil van Dijk gave away the penalty and Mohamed Salah barely had any decent attempt on goal, while also misfiring in the important role of first taker in the shootout.
Can key older players like Salah and Van Dijk, 33 and 34 respectively, perform at similar high levels again? That might be a decisive factor for Liverpool’s season.
Wirtz among the new signings is the most exciting to see. The German looks like he will deliver quite the treat this season. Against Palace he roamed around the pitch, demanding the ball and knitting Liverpool’s forward play together with very high technical skill.
Hugo Ekitike looks sharp and seems like he will have a good season. Full-backs Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez have shown both their strengths and their weaknesses, and Slot would have to manage those effectively.
The loss of a teammate and friend
Around the club still hangs the shadow of the death of Diogo Jota. Jota’s demise rocked the football world, regardless of team persuasion. His teammates, who trained and ate and lined up alongside him would surely feel the impact a lot more.
Such emotions are impossible to predict. How much will they be affected by such a terrible loss?
Some will cope better than others; it always works that way. The important thing is that the squad will need to come together, more than before. They can only win in spite of their collective grief if they can support each other as a group.
Big season for…
It has to be Wirtz, who made a big-money move that could rise to become a Premier League transfer record. There are many who will be turning up for Liverpool’s games every week solely to watch Wirtz play. It’s his stage and he has the chance to seize it.
Season prediction
3rd
