How Liverpool could play under Arne Slot next season and what three key changes may mean for stars’ futures at Anfield

TALK of Jurgen Klopp’s successor at Liverpool has dominated the closing weeks of the Premier League season.

But it now appears Feyenoord boss Arne Slot will be taking the reigns at Anfield from next season after the Reds agreed a £9million-plus compensation deal with the Dutch outfit.

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Arne Slot is set to take over at Liverpool next season[/caption]

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It comes with Jurgen Klopp stepping down at the end of the season[/caption]

The 45-year-old has been backed to guide Liverpool to English title number 20 by Netherlands World Cup icon Johnny Rep.

Slot will be leaving a successful spell in charge of Feyenoord, having turned down an offer from Spurs last summer, and he also impressed in his time at AZ Alkmaar.

While he is known for his trust in youth and commitment to attacking football, it still remains to be seen just how much he will look to change at Anfield.

From a tactical standpoint Slot tends to prefer to play in a 4-2-3-1 shape while Liverpool play a 4-3-3 system, though there is little difference between the two in terms of how they look in possession.

The biggest differences will be in recruitment and the kind of profiles who play in the system.

Below we have taken a look at three things we are likely to see from Slot’s Liverpool and look at what it could mean for the current squad.

Deep build-up

Slot is one of the new breed of coaches in football who favour an extremely deep build-up from the back involving the goalkeeper, defenders and two deep central midfielders.

Feyenoord can sometimes look like a 2-4 or 2-3 when building out from the back depending on the two midfielders, who have frequently been Mats Wieffer and Quinten Timber.

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The two central defenders will split out and give options deep, while the fullbacks usually push further forward to the same line as the central midfielders.

The two midfielders will then either be on the same line playing as a two or have one sitter with the other staggering and pushing higher.

Ball progression from these deeper areas tends to fall to the two central defenders, who are tasked with being comfortable on the ball and being able to make progressive line-breaking passes.

At Feyenoord this season we have seen Slot use David Hancko in this kind of role. At Liverpool, Virgil van Dijk tends to be the defender tasked with a similar role.

Van Dijk has the ability to effectively progress the ball and is comfortable in possession, though this is not as true in the case of Ibrahima Konate.

Consequently, Konate’s position may be under threat in the new system.

And this could result in 21-year-old Jarell Quansah being given the nod ahead of him.

However, it is more likely they will look to recruit for the position in the summer.

Importance of the midfield pivot

Perhaps the most important aspect of Slot’s system of play at Feyenoord is the midfield pivot, which refers to the two deepest midfield players in the system.

This season the responsibility has typically fallen to 24-year-old Wieffer and 22-year-old Timber to give the team the platform to build and move into the final third.

Players in this role need to be strong and disciplined in defence and have the ability to be create in the attacking phase while finding progress the ball from deeper positions.

For the most part Liverpool have played with a single pivot and this means it may take some time to adjust to a double pivot with the new angles and spacing.

While Wataru Endo has impressed as a single pivot at points this season, he may be the one to miss out if Liverpool transition to a two at the base of the midfield.

World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister is ready made for this role, while Conor Bradley‘s emergence at right-back could finally see Trent Alexander-Arnold completely moved into centre-midfield.

Alexander-Arnold moved from fullback to this role at the end of last season and the beginning of this season.

However, it might now be time for him to make the change permanently.

Regardless, it will represent a change for Liverpool.

And again it would not be a surprise to see Liverpool look to recruit a player to play in this role, possibly by snapping up Wieffer.

Final third creativity

Liverpool under Klopp have been famous for their use of a “inside forwards” in the wide areas with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz proving incredibly effective.

This led to some very impressive goal scoring seasons but it worked for the most part because the central striker was told to drop deep and create space.

This season Liverpool shifted to play with the striker leading the line and staying as the highest player which could play into the hands of Slot due to his use of Santiago Gimenez in a similar role at Feyenoord.

This will, in turn, create space deeper with the wide attackers and the central attacking midfielder expected to come deep to receive the ball and then look to penetrate and attack into space.

Under Slot we can expect to see the wingers look to maintain wide positions as they stay on the outside and stretch the opposition.

This could have a direct impact on the future of Salah with interest likely to return from the Saudi league this could very well be the point in which Liverpool look to cash in on their attacking talisman.

The space created by the wingers staying on the outside can then be exploited by the 10 in the attacking midfield position, which could prove to work for Dominik Szoboszlai or even Cody Gakpo.

Indeed, this is one position Liverpool do already appear to have strength in depth.

The use of the three players behind the striker for Slot will be one of the biggest changes to the system of play that we have seen from Klopp from the last few seasons.

Stretching the pitch wide and using central players to create could well create more space for Darwin Nunez to thrive as the central striker.

Conclusion

Liverpool fans are going to have to get used to a new man in the dugout from next season and there is no doubt Klopp will leave a huge hole to fill.

With that said the system that Arne Slot prefers to play is flexible and effective and appears ready made to succeed on the European level and in the Premier League.