5 issues Arne Slot should repair after Liverpool’s newest defeat

Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday marks the worst run of Arne Slot’s managerial profession and the membership’s worst sequence of outcomes since 2014, when Brendan Rodgers was in cost.

It was the fourth straight defeat Liverpool have suffered throughout all competitions, and by far essentially the most painful. United had not received on Merseyside since 2016, however an early aim by Bryan Mbeumo silenced the Anfield roar earlier than most locals had even cleared their throats. 

It set the tone for a day of frustration for Liverpool. Cody Gakpo went on to hit the woodwork 3 times, and though his persistence lastly paid off 12 minutes from time, when he scored a deserved equaliser, United defender Harry Maguire nodded residence six minutes later to seal the factors for the guests.

The defeat leaves Liverpool 4 factors off the tempo on the high of the desk, with doubts rising about whether or not Slot’s facet will have the ability to defend the title they received at a canter final season. Right here, we take into account among the key points the Dutchman should deal with.

Arne Slot should take Milos Kerkez out of the firing line

The Foremost Stand will not be famous for being the noisiest a part of Anfield. That distinction belongs, after all, to the Kop, from which the remainder of the stadium takes its lead – though not in opposition to Manchester United on Sunday, when Bryan Mbeumo’s second-minute opener was an instantaneous environment killer. There was loads of noise amongst many Foremost Stand regulars when Milos Kerkez handed by, nonetheless, with the left-back’s palpable uncertainty on the ball and reluctance to push ahead a supply of accelerating frustration as the primary half wore on.

Repeatedly, the 21-year-old Hungary worldwide gathered the ball on the left flank, promising to bomb up the pitch, solely to activate his heel and cross sq. or backwards. The previous Bournemouth man’s timidity inevitably drew unfavourable comparisons with Andy Robertson, the person he has changed, and whereas Kerkez performed with higher freedom after the break, repeatedly breaking down the left at velocity, his lack of ability to cap these runs with an incisive cross or cross did nothing to quieten the clamour for the Scotland captain’s introduction.

The decision by no means got here for Robertson. The 31-year-old has began simply twice this season, in opposition to Atlético Madrid within the Champions League and Southampton within the League Cup, whereas two of his three substitute appearances within the Premier League have adopted Kerkez bookings, underlining the Scot’s newfound function as an understudy. But if Kerkez continues in present vein, will Liverpool supervisor Arne Slot have the ability to ignore the rising clamour for Robertson’s reintroduction? Gary Neville has likened the Serb to “a youth-team participant” on his eponymous podcast, whereas former Liverpool full-back Steve Nicol has likewise been vocal in his criticism.

“Kerkez seems out of his depth,” Nicol mentioned this weekend in his function as a pundit for ESPN. “[The defence] will not be functioning with the ball as a result of, when [Liverpool] are popping out, each man and his canine doesn’t need to cross the ball to Kerkez. You’ve misplaced the left-hand facet of your assault earlier than you even begin.”

After profitable the Premier League title in his first season, Slot has greater than sufficient credit score within the financial institution to insulate him from criticism, however Kerkez is a younger participant clearly struggling to make the step as much as an even bigger membership. With the left-back place an rising supply of concern for Liverpool, and a extra skilled various on the bench, Robertson’s absence is changing into more and more arduous to fathom.

Is chemistry the important thing to fixing Liverpool’s faltering defence?

A lot has been fabricated from Liverpool’s defensive woes, not least by Slot himself. He has repeatedly bemoaned his facet’s lack of ability to defend set-pieces successfully, and that frailty as soon as once more reared its head in opposition to United, with Liverpool’s failure to clear a nook permitting Bruno Fernandes to cross for Harry Maguire’s winner. 

But if the champions seem a shadow of the facet that conceded the second-fewest objectives within the league final season, it’s maybe unsurprising, given how a lot has modified. Familiarity breeds content material in a again 4, however Robertson’s demotion and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s summer time departure for Actual Madrid have pulled the rug out from beneath the central-defensive pairing of Ibrahima Konaté and Virgil van Dijk. leaving each dealing with unaccustomed challenges. 

On the left, Kerkez’s struggles have demanded extra of Van Dijk, forcing the large Dutchman to anticipate and canopy to a level that was by no means obligatory with the extra skilled Robertson at his facet. Konaté, in the meantime, missing rhythm and type himself, has not been helped by a revolving solid at right-back, the place summer time signing Jeremie Frimpong, Wataru Endo, Conor Bradly and Dominik Szoboszlai have all featured this season.

The dearth of a constant, reliable back-line has not solely undermined Liverpool’s defensive efforts this season, but additionally created a scarcity of chemistry going ahead. 

A lot has been fabricated from Mohamed Salah’s unusually subdued begin to the marketing campaign, however it ought to be acknowledged that the Egyptian maestro remains to be adapting to life with out Alexander-Arnold. Having thrived on the vary and accuracy of the departed full-back’s passing, Salah now faces the same problem to Konaté. Alexander-Arnold instinctively knew the place to seek out the 33-year-old, and likewise turned adept at compensating for the 33-year-old’s reluctance to trace again. The chopping and altering behind Salah has made it troublesome for him to develop such chemistry this time period.

Robertson’s absence has been felt equally keenly on the left, the place the Scot’s means to hold the ball deep into opposition territory and forge efficient partnerships with the likes of Sadio Mané, Cody Gakpo and Luis Díaz has been instrumental to Liverpool’s success in recent times. 

At a time when Slot remains to be determining one of the simplest ways to accommodate summer time signings Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz alongside Salah and Gakpo, Liverpool’s points at full-back have had repercussions at each ends of the pitch. Reintroducing Robertson to the group and sticking with both Bradley or Frimpong at right-back would go a protracted solution to restoring the facet’s stability.

Arne Slot’s Alexander Isak conundrum

It isn’t straightforward to cover at Anfield as Liverpool’s No 9, a lot much less so if you end up the costliest signing in membership historical past. But for 72 minutes in opposition to Manchester United, Alexander Isak was nearly nameless. 

What may need been his most memorable second, which got here on 35 minutes when Konaté broke the strains with a superbly weighted cross to go away the Sweden worldwide one-on-one with United goalkeeper Senne Lammens, as an alternative turned immediately forgettable. Isak didn’t have to interrupt stride to get on the ball, and as he accelerated previous Luke Shaw, he solely wanted to raise the ball over Lammens to provide his Liverpool profession lift-off. 

It was the type of alternative Isak would have tucked away in his sleep for Newcastle, however the 26-year-old will not be that participant simply now. The charitable view can be that he a minimum of registered his first shot on track within the Premier League for his new membership. However as Slot steered earlier than the match, the time for understanding is over. “We will choose him in a good manner now,” he mentioned of Isak, whose efforts to engineer his manner out of Newcastle denied him a correct pre-season. “I feel I can safely say he’s 100% now.”

That being the case, Isak ought to have scored. That he didn’t, as an alternative seeing his low effort blocked by Lammens’ proper boot, is clear trigger for concern. Liverpool paid £125m for the Swede to be the difference-maker at such moments; if his issues are not all the way down to health, it’s reputable to ask what’s holding him again. 

One chance is that the hangover from his summer time transfer has turn into extra psychological than bodily. Having secured his dream transfer, Isak ought to be dwelling his greatest life; as an alternative, he doesn’t even appear to be he’s having fun with his soccer. The burden of expectation can do this to a participant. However so can also ending a fruitful relationship on a bitter notice. Eddie Howe admitted his relationship with the striker modified when he downed instruments to drive by his switch, however the harm was not restricted to the Newcastle supervisor and his teaching employees. The style of Isak’s departure alienated a dressing room and a metropolis, tainting his legacy as a key determine within the membership’s first main home trophy win since 1969, which got here when he scored the winner within the League Cup ultimate in opposition to Liverpool earlier this 12 months. That may be a lot to hold round at a time if you end up making an attempt to adapt to the calls for of a brand new membership.

Restoring Isak to his former self guarantees to be a big check of Slot’s man-management expertise. Removed from being the principle man, as he was at St James’ Park, the Swede has walked right into a dressing room of stars headlined by Salah, whose personal present travails in entrance of aim are offset by final season’s record-equalling haul of 47 aim involvements. He has misplaced the aura of certainty that attended his greatest work in a Newcastle shirt, and it’ll not assist that, when it comes to key contributions he has been outshone this season by the likes of Federico Chiesa, 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha and Szoboszlai  – and that’s earlier than we even get to fellow summer time signing Ekitike…  

Electrical Ekitike deserves to start out

When Ekitike got here on for Alexis Mac Allister simply after the hour mark, the France worldwide made an instantaneous influence. With nearly his first motion, the striker electrified a becalmed stadium, darting in from the left to fireside an effort over. The chants of his identify had barely subsided earlier than Ekitike carried out an encore, capping the same transfer by sending a skidding shot narrowly extensive of Lammens’ far submit. Ekitike’s dynamism immediately turned doubters into believers, rekindling optimism within the stands that Liverpool would possibly, in spite of everything, discover a manner again into the competition. 

That perception was nicely based. With 5 objectives since his summer time arrival from Eintracht Frankfurt, together with three in his first three video games, Ekitike has been the person almost certainly for Liverpool within the early weeks of the season. The 23-year-old was once more instrumental in opposition to United, one other buccaneering run creating mayhem within the opposition field to pave the way in which for Gakpo’s equaliser. In precisely 20 minutes, Ekitike supplied greater than Isak had managed in additional than 3 times as lengthy. The case for his inclusion within the beginning line-up turns into extra compelling with every Liverpool defeat.

Arne Slot wants Alexis Mac Allister match and firing

Alexis Mac Allister has been sensible for Liverpool since signing from Brighton two summers in the past. The Argentina worldwide’s midfield partnership with Ryan Gravenberch was a key part in final season’s title triumph, together with his high quality on the ball – and tenacity with out it – basic to Liverpool’s a lot remarked upon means to manage video games. It did no hurt that he additionally chipped in with seven objectives. However Mac Allister has not appeared totally match for months. The 26-year-old was absent with an undisclosed harm for each membership and nation within the ultimate weeks of final season. He went on to overlook the beginning of pre-season, and has but to finish 90 minutes within the Premier League this time period. Bringing Mac Allister again to full well being and optimum type can be a serious enhance for Liverpool.