The Community Shield completes Arne Slot’s new look Liverpool side’s testing stage. Next up is the real thing for the Premier League champions…
LAST WEEK I asked if the Community Shield was a serious fixture. The online replies were pretty much 50/50 and that echoed my own inconsistent views throughout the week. I went from ‘No’ (I didn’t have a ticket) to ‘Yes’ (I got a ticket), ‘Definitely’ (Ekitike), ‘Nah’ (penalty), ‘Absolutely’ (Frimpong), ‘Not So Much’ (equaliser) to ‘Come on, mate, I’ve spent money on this (Mo’s penalty).’
It’s just a friendly, really.
London is glorious in the sun and Wembley was hot. A bit too hot, to be honest, and it didn’t help the Reds. Bereft of ideas and legs once Ekitike and Wirtz went off, we wilted – but that’s okay; It’s not as if the game meant anything. I mean, it did, but if you’re going to try new stuff, then do it when it doesn’t matter. We did just that.
We’re definitely trying new things.
I can’t help but think about last August. Arne Slot comes in and immediately decides on three things. 1) Trent Alexander-Arnold is a fullback and not a midfielder, 2) Jarell Quansah isn’t for him, and 3) Ryan Gravenberch is a ‘6’. His ‘6’. Three bold statements which he sticks with throughout the season. It wins him the league.
This season is a little more complicated and the experiments might take a while longer. Firstly, it’s his team now and not Jürgen’s. This whirlwind summer has seen the start of a sea change to an Arne Slot era. He’s lost some players, bought two glorious and expensive forwards as well as brand new fullbacks. He’s also kept the main two lads despite protracted contract disagreements. He now has more ingredients with which to work.
His tried and tested 4-3-3 is now looking to be merely part of his arsenal and not the final word in formations.
In the second-half at Wembley we saw two false nines, having sent the real one to the bench. It didn’t really work. The gaps in midfield made the Reds very easy to play through which suited Palace, but won’t for everyone. He’s had a look at that, and it might work, it might not.
The full backs are key to this, particularly if he’s playing a narrow midfield. Jeremie Frimpong likes to get forward, so much so that it sort of took Mo Salah out of his comfort zone. On the other flank, Milos Kerkez was fine, but Palace sought him out as the target for their out ball. I don’t think they’ll be alone in that. He’ll need more protection there until he’s found his feet.
And the same of the team, really. They’re all trying something new, and it might take some protection and fine tuning that we’re used to.
Ordinarily that would worry me. No one likes a season of transition. We want to see Liverpool win things immediately and that’s not to say that we can’t do just that. Ekitike and Wirtz look like lads who can win us games, but the fine tuning for us to be a team in Arne’s image might take a while longer.
It’ll also need some new faces. Two strikers and a centre-back at the very least before we do anything. Those are some pretty big changes and, as Wembley proved, there’s still some work to be done. I mean, they can start with the penalties.
Wembley was disappointing but only because we saw just a glimpse of what we can achieve. Everything drifted off in the second-half, but you can blame the weather and a massive pitch for that. Sort of. Maybe, they too were stunned that a packet of crisps there cost £2. Two quid for a tiny bag!
It’s great not knowing what comes next and what we might do, but I suspect the tactics of next season will vary significantly from the last.
The Champions play on Friday.
