Arne Slot has defensive issues to fix but should retain their title having spent big on 'the new Kevin De Bruyne', among others
It looked like the impossible job. Arne Slot made it look ludicrously easy, though, with the Dutchman leading Liverpool to Premier League glory in his very first season in charge after replacing Kop icon Jurgen Klopp as manager.
Slot's success was made all the more remarkable by the fact that he was given only one new signing to work with in Federico Chiesa – and even then, the injury-prone Italian barely played. So, what might the former Feyenoord boss achieve with a potentially deeper pool of talent at his disposal this season? Fenway Sports Group (FSG) have been busier than ever before this summer, turning a title-winning team into what looks like an even more formidable force.
Liverpool may have been beaten on penalties by Crystal Palace in Sunday's Community Shield clash at Wembley but the meaningful action is now about to begin and England's most successful side looks well-placed to add more titles to their list of honours over the next 10 months. Below, GOAL breaks down exactly what to expect from Slot's revitalised Reds this season…
Getty ImagesMood around Anfield
A mixture of disbelief and excitement. Liverpool supporters have never seen a summer quite like this. After years of fan frustration with FSG's perceived parsimony, the club's American owners have gone really big for arguably the first time since 2018, when Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker both arrived at Anfield.
Even then, though, those two transformative signings arrived during different windows, whereas Liverpool have just signed potential game-changers such as Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong during an unprecedented two-month spending spree.
Arne Slot's only issue, as it stands, will be trying to figure out how to get all his best attacking players in the same starting line-up without losing any defensive solidity – but the fans aren't too worried about that most welcome of selection headaches right now.
They just can't wait to get a glimpse of the radically revamped Reds in proper competitive action for the first time on Friday, when the champions kick-off their Premier League title defence against Bournemouth at Anfield.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesTransfer business
It's almost been forgotten about at this stage butTrent Alexander-Arnold's decision to defect to Real Madrid came as a massive blow to Liverpool – as underlined by the incredibly cold nature of the statement confirming his departure. In the end, though, Liverpool handled the academy graduate's exit superbly: firstly, by charging a desperate Madrid £8.4 million ($11.2m) for a player with just one month left on his contract; and, secondly, by wrapping up a deal for Frimpong so quickly that the Dutchman's arrival was announced on the same day that Alexander-Arnold officially departed.
Less than three weeks later, Frimpongwas joined on Merseyside by his former Bayer Leverkusen team-mate Wirtz in a deal that virtually nobody saw coming as recently as May. The presumption was that the Germany international would end up at the Allianz Arena or the Etihad, but Liverpool blew both Bayern Munich and Manchester City out of the water to sign one of the best young players in world football for a club-record fee that signalled the scale of the Reds' ambition.
Sporting director Richard Hughes then returned to former club Bournemouth to conclude a deal for Kerkez, who looks like the perfect Andy Robertson replacement, before making another statement of intent by hijacking Newcastle's move for Ekitike.
By that stage, many people were wondering how Liverpool could afford all of the new players, particularly as Giorgi Mamardashvili had also belatedly arrived from Valencia. However, the English champions had zero Profit & Sustainability Rules (PSR) issues and were also once again doing a sensational job of selling academy products such as Caoimhin Kelleher, Jarell Quansah, Tyler Morton and Nat Phillips for pure profit. Even more importantly, both Bayern Munich and Al-Hilal paid well over-the-odds for Luiz Diaz and Darwin Nunez, respectively, and we're still expecting RB Leipzig to pay good money for Harvey Elliott, while Chiesa should also depart before deadline day.
So, even accounting for the fact that Slot's squad looks short in cover in defence and attack, Michael Edwards & Co. deserve immense credit for the masterful way in which they’ve managed this sensational summer window to this point – because they're clearly not done yet.
It still seems highly likely that a new defender will arrive before the close of the transfer window, with Liverpool being heavily linked with both Marc Guehi and Giovanni Leoni, while there's clearly still a chance that Liverpool could land dream signing Alexander Isak, who wants out of Newcastle.
Getty Images SportPre-season performances
Liverpool's pre-season programme has been completely overshadowed by the tragic death of Diogo Jota, who, along with his brother Andre Silva, lost his life in a car accident in Spain on July 3.
As well as retiring the forward's No.20 shirt and making him an eternal member of the first-team squad, a new mural has just been unveiled at Anfield. There was also a touching tribute to Jota before Liverpool's first friendly at Preston North End on July 13 and there was a round of applause in the 20th minute of that game – and every one since.
Captain Virgil van Dijk has openly admitted that the players are still coming to terms with the loss of their beloved team-mate, but that they are determined to honour Jota's memory each and every time they set foot on the field. The Reds certainly did the Portuguese proud in what Van Dijk called "surreal" circumstances in pre-season, winning five of their six games, with their only defeat coming against AC Milan in Hong Kong.
Wirtz and Frimpong were the pick of the impressive new signings, while teenage stars Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha proved that the future is very bright at Anfield.
However, Slot openly admitted that he was concerned by the shoddy nature of Liverpool's defensive displays (the normally flawless Van Dijk was awful against Palace) – and the situation hasn't been helped at all by injuries to Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez.
AFPTalking tactics
There was a suspicion that Liverpool might look to bring in another defensive midfielder this summer, given last season's over-reliance on Ryan Gravenberch, who looked a little tired in the final few months of last season. However, the word coming out of Anfield is that Slot believes that Nyoni is now a viable alternative in front of the back four after an impressive pre-season campaign, while the versatile veteran Wataru Endo seems to have completely convinced the Dutchman of his ability to provide cover not only at No.6 but also in the centre of defence.
Speaking of the back four, Kerkez and Frimpong are tremendously exciting additions. Due the pair's speed and attacking attributes, both are very comfortable operating as auxiliary wingers, meaning that Slot can afford to play a narrower midfield or forward line, given pace and penetration should no longer be a problem out wide.
In fact, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Gravenberch dropping even deeper this season to effectively form and back three with Ibrahima Konate and Van Dijk when Liverpool are in possession, with Frimpong and Kerkez pushing right up the field – particularly against deep-lying opposition at Anfield – to create more space for the likes of Wirtz to weave their magic in central areas.
The precise make-up of the attack is understandably attracting most attention. Wirtz has many strings to his bow, but No.10 is unquestionably his best role and Liverpool didn't pay all that money to play the German out of position, so we're expecting him to start in behind a front three of certain starter Salah, new signing Ekitike and the revitalised Cody Gakpo in Slot's favoured 4-2-3-1 formation.
However, the potential arrival of Isak from Newcastle could change everything, as it means we could see the versatile Ekitike on the left – or maybe even working in tandem up top with the Swedish striker. The only thing we can really say for sure right now is that Liverpool will not lack firepower; Slot's task will be ensuring that he comes up with a tactical game-plan that makes the absolute most out of it without leaving his defence over-exposed.
He certainly didn't get the balance right against Palace; however, there were mitigating factors. Firstly, Gravenberch was absent due to the birth of his child, while Alexis Mac Allister was only deemed fit enough to start on the bench. When they're restored to the starting line-up, Liverpool will undoubtedly look a whole lot less vulnerable to counter-attacks.