The Team in Transition - Liverpool After Jurgen Klopp

In the last decade or so, Liverpool has become one of the best teams in Europe. It was all thanks to the tactical mastermind of one man—Jurgen Klopp. The German football expert revolutionized the game in Dortmund and only continued what he started in Liverpool. Klopp had the full backing of the Liverpool board, and thanks to his insights both on and off the field, the team reached the top of European and English football. 

Under Klopp, Liverpool has won both the Premier League and the Champions League, making it one of the best teams in the world. If it wasn't for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, we would have been looking at one of the most decorated English sides in recent memory. Instead, that title belongs to City. Also, if it wasn't for Real Madrid, Liverpool would have a few more European titles. 

Klopp will be remembered as a manager who did the impossible and lifted a title in the era of Pep and City, Real and Barcelona. As the man who ended the three-decades-long title drought, Liverpool experienced. All good things come to an end, and at the end of the 2023/24 season, Klopp announced his decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the season. It was the end of an era that left the fans uneasy about the imminent future. 

During the last decade, it became evident that Klopp is among the best managers available. His loyalty to Liverpool was never questioned, but it was always clear that he would not be reining as long as Sir Alex Ferguson did in Manchester. The good part about Klopp's exit was that he had a say in his successor selection. The choice fell on the Dutch coach Arne Slot, who did wonders with a limited budget and talent at Feyenoord. 

Another important factor in Klopp's parting ways with Liverpool is that his exit wasn't a surprise. They had internal talks, and the club was preparing for life without him for a long time. This is evident when you look at Liverpool's transfer policy. They never bought players as if they were in a win-now mode but always with one eye on the future. That future came sooner than expected, and now Slot has a fabulous squad of players to work with. 

Since it became evident that Slot was Klopp's successor, the fans of Liverpool could be relaxed about their future. Arne plays a similar style of football to the German manager, and the two have similar outlooks regarding running a big club. While there was a lot of pressure facing Slot from the English press and with big shoes left to be filled by Klopp, Slot handled it all precisely. 

The Dutch manager speaks perfect English, so there was no language barrier to speak of. The team has two players from the Dutch national team Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk. Slot came and it was like Klopp never left. He stuck to the guns he had, retained the formation Klopp played, and only sprinkled a bit of his ideas all over the team. It was an easy job to take over Liverpool as Klopp left a functional unit. 

Mo Salah is playing some of his best football since Slot's arrival, while he also brought the best out of Van Dijk and Konate and made their defensive pairing better. The only issue Slot has to sort out is the expiring contract of Trent Alexander Arnold. If he manages to convince the Englishman to stay, his work will be off to a great start. Even if he doesn't, Trent will be in Liverpool until the season ends, and we're talking about a season where online sports betting outlets see The Reds as frontrunners to win the Premier League. 

Of course, it is not all due to Slot's arrival. Manchester City is having the biggest meltdown in Pep Guardiola's career, and Arne Slot and his Liverpool team are taking full advantage of that. In contrast, most pundits believed that this year would be a transitional year in Arne Slot's career and Liverpool's history, the Dutch expert is proving everyone wrong. He has set up his team for success. 

At the moment Liverpool is leading the league. After 11 rounds the team has 9 wins, 1 draw, and 1 defeat. They've scored 21 goals and conceded only 6 making them the toughest defense in the league. No one doubted that Slot would be able to make Salah & Co. fire on all cylinders, but no one expected them to be the defensive powerhouse they're proving to be. They have a tie against Arsenal at the Emirates which isn't a bad result at all, with their only defeat coming at the hands of Nottingham Forest. While at the time it was a shocking defeat, later on, Forest proved to be a good team and currently lies third in the table, proving that a win against Liverpool was no fluke. Also, it showed that The Reds have nothing to be ashamed of losing against Nuno and his boys. 

What followed was some of the best football Liverpool has played in recent years, and it's no wonder that sport betting folks are now seeing Liverpool as the frontrunner for the Premier League. Arne Slot also showed that his team is not only focused on the PL and the Champions League. In the two rounds of the League Cup played, he brought out strong teams to face West Ham and Brighton and won both matches, reaching the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup, where they will face the newly-promoted Southampton. This trophy remains on the menu, and with teams left in the rest of the brackets, they are in a good position to take home the season's first trophy. 

All of this was made possible by Arne Slot who made Liverpool play an even better form of team football compared to what Jurgen Klopp had going on for the Reds. If you look at league stats of their players you will notice that no one stands out besides Mohamed Salah. Mo Salah started the year with eight goals and six assists. Haaland is the only one with more goals while no other player has more assists. The next Liverpool start in the packing order is Luis Diaz who has five goals and two assists. Diogo Jota has two goals and two assists, while Darwin Nunez has two goals and an assist. 

As you can see, no one stands out in this Liverpool team. Mo Salah leads the way and is the team's most valuable player. He allows others to thrive while taking all the pressure away. All of this was made possible by a string of solid defensive performances, as we already pointed out. When healthy, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson, and Trent are the best defensive four in the world. They're proving this week in and week out this season. 

Despite everything we said, the true power of this Liverpool side lies in their midfield rotation. It is a part of the team that shouldn't be neglected. Szoboszlai Dominik, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, and Curtis Jones are an amazing squad of players in midfield. When you add young Harvey Elliott and experienced Endo Wataru to the mix, you get the idea that Liverpool's engine is quite good. Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz can be found up front, on the wings, and in the midfield, allowing Slot to experiment a bit when required. 

This Liverpool team has everything it takes to battle on all fronts and reach the final stages of all competitions in which it participates. In addition to the Premier League, which they are already favored to take home according to betting outlets such as Stake, they are also one of the frontrunners in the Champions League. So far, they've been going strong and are the only team at the moment with all four wins. 

Once again, their defense is at the forefront of all news as they only conceded one goal in four matches. The Reds have scored ten and, in the process, have demolished some of the more serious teams on the Old Continent. After AC Milan and Bologna, whom they defeated 3:1 and 2:0, respectively, they went over to Germany. They held football lessons with RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen, putting four goals past Xabi Alonso's side. 

Another proof that Liverpool is playing high-end team football under Arne Slot is that their best scorer in the CL is Luis Diaz, who has three goals, while Salah only has one paired with four assists. In the next four matches, they will be thoroughly tested by Real Madrid at Enfield, while the three easier fixtures come in the form of duels with Girona, Lille, and PSV. We do not doubt that with their current form, Liverpool will finish the season as one of the top eight teams in the CL League stage, if not as number one till the end. 

The weeks and months ahead are filled with challenges for Arne Slot as he will be judged at the end of the year and not during the first few months. The true test for Slot and the Reds is the weeks after the international break. Liverpool will face Southampton away, which is seen as an easy win on November 24th. After that they are going through a slew of rough fixtures. First, they will face Real Madrid in one of the deciding CL fixtures before they return to PL and make a run through Manchester City, Newcastle, and Everton before facing Girona in the CL. 

If Slot takes all the points from duels with City, Newcastle, and city rivals Everton, he will be dubbed as the savior of a team that wasn't in a place where it needed to be saved. But, if he loses more than two points, they will not be in a very good position. Losing in Manchester shouldn't be on the table as City was never more shaken than it is now. Also, Newcastle away is a tricky fixture while it is never easy to top their city rivals. 

After this string of games, facing Fulham at home and Southampton away in the EFL Cup needs to be winnable. If by December end, Liverpool and Slot are leading the Premier League and the CL and have reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, we could be talking about the best half-season in a manager's premiership stint. 

While Liverpool is playing great and is recording one of the best PL and CL starts in years, the people higher up are not sleeping. Together with Arne Slot, they are preparing a transfer push to make Liverpool an even more dominant force on the island and the Old Continent. The names tied to Liverpool transfer rumors are Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni and Eintracht Frankfurt forward Omar Marmoush. The Egyptian is one of the best players in the Bundesliga and is seen as an immediate contributor and a long-term Salah replacement. The Frenchmen has been a target for Liverpool even before Slot came around, and is now once again on the table. Tchouameni remains unsatisfied with his RM minutes and for being played out of position more than he likes. Liverpool could take advantage of his emotions and have him fly to Enfield this winter, while he remains seen more as a summer target. At the same time, The Reds will attempt to bring Marmoush this January. 

Whatever happens during the transfer window and in the next few weeks and months, one thing can't be denied at the moment. Arne Slot had a great start to his Liverpool career, and currently, it appears that Liverpool and him are a match made in heaven. Will it remain so? Let's wait and see. After all, June is right around the corner. 

Written by Alan Spencer