As the fourth official\u2019s board flashed \u201973\u2019 in red, Anfield\u2019s reaction to Rio Ngumoha\u2019s substitution crystallised the scrutiny around Arne Slot. Fenway Sports Group (FSG) are unlikely to act quickly, but supporters drew comparisons with the end of 2014\u201315, when Brendan Rodgers\u2019 side collapsed a year after a title tilt and the Northern Irishman lost his job a couple of months into the following season.<\/p>\n
Slot is “100% convinced” Liverpool will be a “different team” in 2026\u201327, yet the manager faces clear structural problems beyond his own status. First, the squad must manage a change of era. Mohamed Salah is departing this summer after a legendary Anfield career but a bad season, while Alisson has been linked with a move after an injury-riddled campaign. Liverpool signed Giorgi Mamardashvili as a long-term replacement for the Brazilian, but the new goalkeeper has huge shoes to fill and is yet to universally convince. Finding a Salah successor of comparable impact appears all but impossible; a ready-made superstar in the mould of Michael Olise would be costly and unlikely.<\/p>\n
Second, defence and leadership require attention. Virgil van Dijk will stay for another year despite fluctuating performances after an excellent 2024\u201325 season. J\u00e9r\u00e9my Jacquet has been touted as his heir and a year under van Dijk should help. Andy Robertson\u2019s minutes were due to diminish, yet Milos Kerkez\u2019s struggles have forced the Scot to share the load. Kerkez was regarded as an excellent signing when it was made, but many remain concerned about his capacity to succeed Robertson long term.<\/p>\n
Third, the forward line needs clearer definition. Liverpool completed last summer\u2019s record-breaking spend with Alexander Isak from Newcastle United, but Isak\u2019s debut campaign was disrupted by a leg-break in December and a sluggish return. Hugo Ekitike\u2019s Achilles injury increases Isak\u2019s importance, yet the pairing is tricky: both prefer drifting left and coexistence will be a tactical challenge. Florian Wirtz has had acclimatisation issues, compounding Slot\u2019s difficulty in finding consistent attacking balance.<\/p>\n
Finally, midfield structure has been exposed. Slot\u2019s title-winning ideas of positional fluidity remain, but the lack of a recognised holding midfielder has left the defence vulnerable. Ryan Gravenberch is often the deepest of the midfielders but can be caught ahead of the ball; Alexis Mac Allister has struggled to recover due to fading legs; Dominik Szoboszlai has spent long periods filling a square peg at right back. Liverpool rank 10th in the Premier League with 31 fast breaks conceded, and, according to Opta, only five teams have conceded more goals from such situations. Slot must choose between tactical restraint or recruiting a midfield enforcer. Much has been done to ease the transition from the icons of J\u00fcrgen Klopp\u2019s reign, but significant work remains to ensure a prosperous new era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liverpool must fix leadership, striker pairing, attacking balance, midfield protection and transition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13748,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,172],"tags":[1084,195,299],"class_list":["post-13749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-epl","tag-achilles-injury","tag-alexander-isak","tag-arne-slot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}