Reds Reload: Slot’s System, New Faces, Same Ambition

Liverpool Now Stronger, Sharper, Different

There’s always a balance when a successful team upgrades in the summer after they’ve won trophies. Liverpool’s mantra was traditionally: build from a position of strength.

That’s build. Not rebuild.

Milos Kerkez’s arrival this week made him the third high-profile signing of the summer, along with Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz. All will be first-choice selections come August.

You can argue that Frimpong and Kerkez are like-for-like replacements for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson. That’s a little simplistic. Both newcomers are raiding full-backs, but their style of play differs significantly from the men they have been signed to succeed.

There’s another factor. Half the back four have changed. Understanding takes time to develop. If another centre back comes in, Virgil van Dijk might be the only title-winning defender to survive the close season.

A New Shape for a New Attack

Up front, the system will need a radical change to bring out the best in Wirtz. There may be a knock-on effect in midfield.

Is this something to worry about? It would be with a manager who is tied to a system.

Arne Slot, by contrast, is a pragmatist. Even if there’s more churn during this window, memories of the way that the Dutchman tweaked the team he inherited from Jurgen Klopp should assuage any concerns. The head coach isn’t trying to fit players into a template. He’s got an idea in his mind of how his Liverpool side will operate. The system will be different because Slot wants it to be better.

Kerkez knows the Premier League. Frimpong may need an adjustment period but looks to have the pace and power to suit English football.

Wirtz won’t get the time and space that was available in the Bundesliga and can expect some rough treatment. He will get a baptism of fire and expectations are off the scale, but seasoned observers around the game suggest the 22-year-old has the nous and vision to cope. Plus, if defences give too much attention to the German, there’s a fella called Mo Salah who can wreak havoc when given a little bit of space.

So far, this has been a remarkably astute bit of recruitment. Richard Hughes has done sterling work. He’s as close to getting the best players available for their positions as he can be. And Wirtz is a proper coup. The projected first XI already feels stronger than the title-winning team.

That still needs to be proven but, on last season’s evidence, Slot's the man to do it. He’s been given more weapons and he knows how to use them.

Konate, Contracts and Cold Decisions

What about outgoings? Ibrahima Konate is a year away from leaving on a free, and there’s no real movement on his contract negotiations.

The last thing the club needs is another player running down his contract. The 26-year-old is as near to his peak as possible. Might it be time to put him on the market?

The way I understand the situation, Liverpool would prefer Konate to extend his contract. The links with Marc Guehi are, at the moment, overstated, but if the Frenchman is determined to leave, the Crystal Palace defender would become a realistic option.

Having seen a lot of Guehi at Selhurst Park, he didn’t immediately jump out as a potential Liverpool player. He is mobile, adaptable, quick and, at 22, has plenty of room to grow.

Personally, I don’t think Konate is worth the sort of wages he’s looking for. He may find life apart from van Dijk considerably tougher, too. And when he limped off with cramp in the second half of extra time in the crucial Champions League knockout match against Paris Saint-Germain, it confirmed to me that he is not the man to take over van Dijk’s mantle.

The decisions on Konate will be taken by people who know much more than me, but he needs to be realistic in his expectations. If you want to know what top class looks like, glance across at van Dijk. Konate is a long way from that level. I would not be devastated if he went through the exit door.

Harvey Elliott: Talent in the Wrong Moment

These days I don’t have to watch England. That’s a relief. But I made an exception for the under-21s Euros to check out Harvey Elliott’s performance. He has so much going for him.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to see him forcing his way into Slot’s team. He needs the freedom to do his thing, and the structure of Liverpool last season meant Elliott would have to subvert his own game to get into the side. Even then, there were others who were better at doing what Slot wanted.

It seems inevitable he will leave. That’s sad. He made it clear he’s a Liverpool fan since childhood. He’s just found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Elliott, at 22, needs to be playing regularly. If he departs, there will be regrets all round. But it may be best for everyone.

Kerkez, Riise, and That Own Goal We’ll Never Forget

Kerkez name-checked John Arne Riise in his first interview as a Liverpool player. He said he’s watched lots of clips of the Norwegian. I shrieked.

There’s only one lesson to be learnt from Riise: trust your right foot enough to use it instead of trying to head the ball when it’s 12 inches off the ground in your own box in a Champions League semi-final.

Nope. Not forgiven Riise for that own goal against Chelsea yet. Probably never will.

Winter’s Coming – And So Are the Reds

I don’t like the heat. I’m not engaged with the summer football we’re seeing. But this week, in boiling temperatures, I was reminded of an incident back in the 1980s.

We were in the American Bar – the legendary Yankee – on a stinking hot day at the end of June. As we stepped outside onto Lime Street, a cooling breeze briefly came off the Mersey.

My mate Big Al spoke. “You feel that?”

We nodded.

“Winter’s coming,” he continued, with a mixture of satisfaction and anticipation. “The Reds will be back soon. It’ll be freezing and we’ll be winning. Get ready.”

It was the pep talk we all needed, a real midsummer night’s dream.

Roll on winter.