This may be a role reversal, in many ways. Last season, Liverpool were champions, with Arsenal trailing them by double digits. The champions are now 14 points ahead of their opponents and could be up 17 points on Thursday night. When they last met in August, Mikel Arteta was accused of being overly cautious in his side’s 1-0 loss. Boring, boring Arsenal, to borrow a slogan from the 90s? What’s even harder to say is that they scored in each of their next 26 games, second only to Manchester City in the Premier League and averaging nearly three goals per game in the Champions League.
The charge now is a distortion of the subject. Boring, boring Liverpool? “I find it hard to hear, but that’s not to say I won’t disagree completely, I’ll use different words and I’ll think about certain things,” Arne Slaughter said. “I want to win as many trophies as possible but I think I’m also known for the fact that my teams always try to play attacking football and let’s just say they’re trying to do that.”
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If this season has been one where Slott’s plans have failed, then Liverpool’s recent woes are an example. Last week they drew 0-0 with Leeds United at Anfield. They had a dull first half in Sunday’s draw with Fulham. As with everything else at Anfield, these issues can be traced back to their summer transfer business.
The day after beating Arsenal, they signed Alexander Isak. It looks like they’re going to play fantasy football, and the offense is collectively unstoppable. However, now in the second half of the season, Isak and Florian Wirtz have managed just two league goals and one assist each. But they might go to Arsenal with just Wirtz if Sloter appears to have assembled a ‘four’: Isaac is injured, Hugo Ekitic is doubtful and Mohamed Salah is away for the Africa Cup of Nations. The quartet has yet to start playing together, although there never seemed to be a formula for four to play at the same time. Meanwhile, Liverpool, who scored 86 league goals last season, have now scored just 61.
Florian Wirtz could be the only member of the ‘four’ to face Arsenal (Getty)
Injuries are part of it, but only part of it. Slott’s lament about being blocked low from set-pieces, scoring too few goals and conceding too many goals will be all too familiar to many Liverpool fans.
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“We’re trying to create a lot of chances,” he admitted. “But if there’s one thing I’m known for, it’s attacking football, playing a lot of forwards, and when we’re a goal down, playing a lot of forwards. So it’s hard for me to hear us playing boring football, let alone me not playing forward.”
In fact, he was criticized earlier in the season for making bold substitutions that overloaded the forwards. Now different shapes appeared around him. After nine losses in 12 games, the nine-game unbeaten streak seems to place more emphasis on stability. Slott’s starting 11 at the Emirates Stadium will almost certainly feature four midfielders, Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones, Alexis Mike Allister and Dominic Szoboszlai, however they are arranged.
Alexander Isak is now injured and has only scored two goals for the Reds (PA Wire)
“Having a midfielder on the team is not something I would do voluntarily,” Slaughter said. “I did it because certain players were unavailable and that needs to be very clear because I’ve been a head coach for six or seven years and I’ve always played with wingers and I’ve always changed my wingers as new wingers came in. So I’ve always used a 4-3-3 formation with real wingers.”
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This tends to be the Dutch way. However, in the 1-4 loss to PSV, he gave up Salah and let midfielder Szoboszlai play on the right.
“I agree [steadying the ship] “That’s what needs to happen first, but I’m not doing it to try and play defensive football,” Slaughter said. “I think that’s a misconception. We always push the other team as high as possible on the court. When we have the ball, we try to create as many chances as possible. “
Slott has opted for a more pragmatic Liverpool side in recent weeks (Getty)
Statistics show that after 20 games, six teams have created more good chances, although only two teams have taken more shots. However, Liverpool’s recent performances have been less than exciting. One issue may be that while Slott has spoken of his love for wingers, Salah and Cody Gakpo prefer to shoot infield, while he may anticipate more dangerous crosses from left-back Milos Kolquez. However, it’s hard to escape the feeling that much of this plan revolves around Wirtz’s extreme creativity and Isaac’s finishing in a crowded penalty area.
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And it’s not the first time Slaughter has complained about defensive opponents. He noted that Fulham played five games at the back against Liverpool on Sunday. “I didn’t change our style, but the team changed their style against us,” he said. “Our style is not [to] Steady the ship and go back and defend your box for 90 minutes. My football is Liverpool vs Paris Saint-Germain. That’s what I want every game to be like, but you need two teams to have an open football game. “
But if Arteta may be more pragmatic and Slott more purist, questions now surround Liverpool about the style of football. If Slott has answers off the court, does he have answers on the court?
