Five games, three points… Liverpool fans are at breaking point, but could this torrid time for The Reds be about to end? After a strong performance on the road at Frankfurt have Liverpool’s fortunes changed – despite the 3-2 loss to Brentford – or is it merely the eye of the storm?
The last time Liverpool went on a barren spell like this, failing to take anything from 4 consecutive games, it was under the tenure of Brendan Rogers in November 2014.
That involved defeats to Newcastle, Real Madrid, Chelsea and finally Neil Warnock’s Crystal Palace before drawing with Bulgarian side Ludogorets.
More than a decade later, are times still as dire on Merseyside?
Instead of the forward debate being between Fabio Borini and Ricky Lambert, Arne Slot gets the headache of trying to balance a title-winning team with the additional influx of £446m worth of players.
Could this inundation of new talent be the reason for the poor run of form, or has Slot been found out?
A simple way of assessing what went wrong after a match is to consult the player ratings.
As can be seen by the graphic above, many of the lower-rated players have been new additions to Slot’s squad.
This is a pattern that is seen a lot in the Premier League, however, usually at the foot of the table.
The introduction of multiple big-name players all coming in at the same time – Ekitike, Isak, Wirtz, Kerkez, Frimpong and Mamardashvili – can cause a lack of cohesion in terms of the manager’s tactics, leading to a slump in results or performances.
An example of this is Leeds United replacing 7 of their starting 11 following a relegation fight; doing this ended up costing the club well over €150m as well as ultimately their place in the top flight later that season.
Throughout Slot’s time in the Premier League, he has championed the 4-2-3-1 formation, and following his successful first season, many others in the league have followed suit.
The idea is to rely on a strong midfield partnership to break up play and turn the ball over and feed the more attacking-minded players in front of them.
The trust in the backline allows the forwards to stay higher and launch sweeping moves, building overloads more effectively.
This is then sweetened by the introduction of the attacking-minded fullbacks of Frimpong and Kerkez. In theory it’s a match made in heaven… So why isn’t it working?
Across the winless drought, Liverpool matched up against two formations, the 4-2-3-1 implemented by Galatasaray and Chelsea as well as the 3-4-2-1 used by Crystal Palace and Manchester United.
Both formations used, when in possession, succeed by turning the ball over quickly, high up the pitch, punishing the loss of possession with a quick move utilising the wing backs/wide midfielders to create an overload.
However, due to Slot’s preference to be in possession and dictating the play, this invites teams using a packed midfield – or a high press – onto them, leading to errors, especially late on when the two in the holding role begin to tire.
This is most readily apparent in the Crystal Palace and Man United games. Both teams utilised a 3-back formation, dominated the midfield, made more tackles and recoveries, and created over five big chances each.
Frankfurt was a breath of fresh air for all those involved with the club. Not only was it a resounding win, but it was the first time since his arrival that Slot completely changed his system.
Dino Toppmöller had done his homework and had the hosts lined up in Slot’s bogey formation of 3-4-2-1. A tactical switch threw the best-laid German plans out the window, as Liverpool lined up in a 4-4-2, completely packing out the midfield and, despite an early scare, winning comfortably.
This switch to a 4-4-2 and winning ways has come at a cost, however, with superstar Mohammed Salah storming down the tunnel and removing Liverpool from his social media bios, following his 15-minute stint off the bench.
This could be a tactical setup that was implemented by Liverpool may be called upon more when the African Cup of Nations commences in December – with Salah’s absence.
However, in the meantime, Slot could be left to relegate one of his stars to understudy due to the pool of talent at his disposal.
