Arne Slot’s had a relatively short career as a football manager. But in that time, he went from being an unknown to being a respected manager in the Netherlands, to now leading Liverpool to new success. And it’s all down to Slot’s supreme understanding of tactics and how to implement those.
The transition from legendary manager Jurgen Klopp to Slot has been more comfortable than practically anyone had expected. Everyone in the Reds’ camp is breathing a sigh of relief.
I previously analyzed Arne Slot’s tactics used with Feyernoord. Even so, I was surprised by Liverpool’s strong success to the new season. This is why today I am looking at what Arne Alot is getting tactics right now that he is at Anfield, what could be improved, and the risks that fans of the club are not yet considering.
Career Prior to Managing Liverpool
Arne Slot’s ascension up the ranks of football management has been swift. This much is famous. But Slot himself wasn’t. Liverpool’s scouting, once more, was faultless when they approached the manager. I admit that I didn’t expect their gamble to pay off so well.
Slot was a serviceable midfielder who spent most of his career representing NAC Breda. Shortly after his retirement, he entered management, becoming an assistant in 2016 for lowly Cambuur.
Chance then played a part when he became the club’s interim and impressed, even earning a victory in the KNVB Cup over the mighty Ajax Amsterdam. As a consequence, AZ Alkmaar came calling in 2019, and for a while everyone in The Netherlands was buzzing about the manager who’d turned AZ into an unlikely force.
Slot didn’t hesitate in making a switch to one of the country’s biggest footballing institutions. He won the title with Feyernoord in 2023 on the back of some highly watchable performances. The even more technically proficient PSV Eindhoven took the title from Slot the next season.
But it mattered little. Once Jurgen Klopp announced his departure from Liverpool, the club had begun its search and zeroed in on Slot. Just what did the Reds see in the Dutch upstart? Just how would he be different from other Dutch managers who had not quite set the Premier League alight?
Football Philosophy
Arne Slot’s football philosophy aligns with the type that Liverpool has been playing for years. It also aligned with the squad that the club already has available. A factor that many people ignored, myself included, is that Liverpool recruiters, once again, had a long-term vision.
Slot’s teams try to defend from the front and attack from the back. These teams play a highly intense style of football that requires technical precision. It involves full-backs who can provide assists, central defenders who can advance with the ball at their feet like playmakers, and strikers who are relentless.
Unlike Klopp, Slot was not a man instantly known for his charisma. But this may be misleading. Former players talk about a liked man, highly knowledgeable about football tactics, who manages to inspire and make his players feel confident.
Formations and adaptability
At the time of writing, Liverpool has started every EPL game in a 4-2-3-1 formation. This is also the system that Feyernoord employed with Slot at the helm. This formation can easily transition into a 4-3-3 or 4-4-1-1.
It’s a style that is easily adaptable to the opposition and this is why so many top clubs use it.
The wing-backs tend to be very important when using this style of football. During the past two seasons, Feyernoord’s goal chances often came from attacks down the wing. The team used a technically advanced playmaker. The team relied on a striker to poach the ball into the box.
This is precisely what Liverpool has done this season. Still, it should be noted that all of these players were already part of the Reds’ setup. Alexander-Arnold and Robertson have been the best wing-back pairing in the game for a number of years. Szboszlai has grown into a great playmaker. And Diego Jota, when fit, is a real goal threat.
Feyenoord in Defense
Liverpool currently leads the Premier League table. But the most striking stats are the defensive ones. Liverpool has only conceded three times in eight games. In one of them, Caoimhin Kelleher deputized for Alisson Becker, the first-choice keeper.
Arne Slot isn’t improving Liverpool defensively so much by working on the way the four defenders play together. This had, for the most part, already been solved during Klopp’s time. Rather, Slot is improving every other player’s defensive contribution.
In the defensive phase, the full-backs play more narrowly. Because they can add security in the centre of the pitch, it means that Virgil van Dijk or Ibrahima Konate, the central defenders, can advance more freely with the ball.
Attacking players may also drop deep into defensive positions. For example, team leader and consistent goalscorer Mohamed Salah has often been spotted dropping deep in defence, securing the flank. This allows Trent-Alexander Arnold the freedom to move into a more central position, creating extra pressure on the opposition’s attacking players.
But there is still a high element of risk involved. Liverpool still defends with a very high line. Players will use pressing to move opposition players onto the flanks and win the ball back by creating overloads.
Yes, gegenpressing, has been shown to work. But as even Klopp would acknowledge, when it doesn’t, it creates plenty of problems and leads to conceding goals. It remains to be seen how and if Liverpool’s greater rivals utilize this.
While Slot starts in a 4-2-3-1 formation on almost all occasions, roles are more important than positions for him. Players need to be able to play numerous roles and easily swap with their colleagues.
Defenders, for example, need to change roles when looking to help build up play. Goalkeeper Alisson may advance and become an additional passing option for the two central defenders. Or, one of the full-backs may drop deep and cut inside for the same purpose.
The defenders are expected to pass accurately and to play under pressure. It is with their movement and technique that Slot opens up teams looking to press them from the front. This is how Liverpool creates space for attacks, primarily on the wings.
How Liverpool Build Up
Jurgen Klopp’s style of football won Liverpool a lot of new fans. The team used aggressive pressing to launch quickfire and relentless counterattacks. Slot, on the other hand, wants his team to dominate possession. Liverpool plays with less reliance on a quick pace and a great emphasis on controlling the rhythm of the game.
Fluidity is the key to the way in which Slot’s Liverpool builds up. Players are instructed to adapt their movement so as to always create numerical superiority and offer passing options for the players on the ball.
Liverpool will also employ pressing traps. In the ideal scenario, as was the case in the match against Manchester United, this neutralizes the opposition’s determination to press by, essentially, creating decoys who will then free up an additional player, usually a full-back, to receive the ball.
Finally, while Liverpool does start each game in a 4-2-3-1, players’ movement on the pitch will be determined by the requirements of each game. For example, the double pivot will move further down to create superiority against an opposition that presses with four or more players.
Liverpool has a squad that includes not just equality attacking players but players of different types. Each can offer something different. However, the way that the team brings the ball into a dangerous area is usually the same.
Liverpool in Attack
Liverpool tends to build slower than they did under Jurgen Klopp. Like Bayer Leverkusen, this version of the Reds likes to take advantage of quick cutbacks.
This means that while the full-backs or wingers, like Mohamed Salah or Luis Diaz, work to create width and look to bring the ball into advantageous crossing positions, they will always favour a cutback toward the central area just outside the penalty box.
Slot wants his attacking players to crowd this area. There are a few reasons for this. First of all, bringing more players in will create passing options. Secondly, players like Szoboszlai or Mac Allister can play a one-two with the winger. Thirdly, if they remain unchallenged, they can take a shot on goal.
Lastly, the strikers will look to make runs in between the defenders who will be looking to mark against the danger posed by the players occupying the aforementioned central area. Alexander Arnold, Gravenberch or Mac Allister are the players most likely to attempt a killer through the ball.
Indeed, while Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez have been the focal points of these attacks, it is, once again, the wide players who have scored the highest number of goals. Salah and Diaz are the team’s best-scoring players, create the highest number of goal-scoring opportunities, and, coincidentally, attempt the highest number of dribbles.
What is next for Arne Slot and Liverpool?
Arne Slot has started his tenure as manager of Liverpool far better than most expected. He has demonstrated great tactical knowledge and an ability to immediately gain the respect of his players.
While this takes a good deal of pressure off the backs of the club’s hierarchy, the road to success will not necessarily be a smooth one. The Premier League is more competitive than ever, as are European competitions.
What is certain is that Liverpool proves to be one of the best-run football clubs in the world with a squad and managerial choices made to suit not just immediate success but, hopefully, a legacy of it.
