It was a sobering Anfield homecoming for Xabi Alonso, the person who may properly have been in Arne Slot‘s place within the residence technical space fairly than the guests’ had the wind blown in a unique course throughout the summer time.
Classes had been discovered by each him and us as Liverpool mercilessly swept Bayer Leverkusen apart within the Champions League.
An intriguing stalemate for an hour, adopted by an avalanche of objectives for the lads in pink over the last half hour. Ultimately, it was a brutal unpicking of Xabi-ball by the Slot Machine, on a night when fairly the assertion was made by a Liverpool aspect that now tops each the Champions League and Premier League tables.
Right here we had opponents that had been invincible double winners in Germany final season, a staff crushed solely as soon as all through 2023/24, a loss they didn’t take in till the Europa League ultimate.
Led by a former Liverpool Champions League winner, a hero of Istanbul, and one which many people had hoped would step into the void left by Jurgen Klopp’s summer time departure, just for him to admirably resolve his fast future nonetheless lay with the Bundesliga membership.
He took them from relegation candidates to the beforehand unseen riches of league title glory, all inside the relative blink of a watch.
Xabi consummately trod the tightrope of returning hero and up to date European rival with model, and one numbing loss won’t alter a managerial trajectory that has all of the potential to take him wherever his imaginative and prescient and ambitions need.
Timing is all the things
Turbulence at Actual Madrid, you say? A return for Xabi to the Bernabeu wouldn’t be a shock within the not-too-distant future.
Calls for of perfection at Bayern Munich at all times leaving their head coach on shifting sands, you say? There might be simulators on the Allianz Enviornment already operating packages of how Xabi-ball will play out in Bavaria.
With a Bundesliga title to his title as each participant and supervisor, you wouldn’t guess in opposition to him attaining the identical in La Liga earlier than lengthy both.
A eager eye at Anfield will undoubtedly preserve a watching temporary on Xabi, however as autumn does its factor, Slot is more and more displaying why he was the suitable man on the proper time when it got here to Liverpool appointing a successor to Klopp.
An unknown entity to most of us earlier than his arrival, if we’re sincere about it, Slot’s process in following within the footsteps of Klopp was each a blessing and curse.
He inherited a membership in comparatively impolite well being, inclusive of a bountiful squad of gamers who know learn how to win issues whereas additionally having to take care of the shadow of a predecessor that is still bigger than life.
Not a job for shrinking violets and the faint of coronary heart, Slot has embraced the problem fairly than worry it, guiding a set of gamers that the injured Federico Chiesa aside are nonetheless very a lot males of the earlier incumbent of the supervisor’s workplace at Anfield.
A good distance nonetheless to journey earlier than the 2024/25 season reaches its finish, but you possibly can’t assist however be impressed with the job Slot has accomplished to this point, taking the gamers he has at his disposal and placing his personal spin on how he desires them to play when the straightforward choice would have been to ship them out with a mantra of stick, don’t twist. Extra of the identical.
It takes a particular managerial mindset to tackle any individual else’s staff with out bringing in a fleet of your personal new signings and getting it to play to a unique tune that also stays acquainted to a level.
Bob Paisley nailed it when he changed Invoice Shankly, and in Slot’s personal homeland, the Totaalvoetbal of Rinus Michels at Ajax was given an alternate jaunty hat by Stefan Kovacs. Other than Fabio Capello taking over the reins at Milan in succession of Arrigo Sacchi, there aren’t too many different examples to attract upon the place the transition proved to be as easy as silk at such a excessive degree of soccer.
Slot has the prospect to drag off the trick although.
There may be the potential for one thing particular
That final half hour on Tuesday evening was the right snapshot of what the Slot model of Liverpool may be capable to obtain within the months and years forward, and what’s most compelling is the steadiness of the staff.
It won’t be heavy steel soccer anymore, however the acoustics are great. There may be much less sledgehammer and extra subtlety, and it’s completely OK to like each interpretations.
Inside this, it does really feel like change is within the air, which might be unsettling, but the gamers are massively having fun with their soccer regardless. Slot appears to be incomes the belief of his gamers, and he’s turning into extra accustomed to his new environment.
Now we have barely missed Alisson these previous couple of video games and Slot has not blinked on the idea of benching Andy Robertson.
We’ve all been impressed with the affect of Ryan Gravenberch, and the boldness of not fielding a recognised defensive midfielder has introduced a perpetual rotation of duties for the center three. As one stays and two advance, the composition of who goes and who stays is continually altering, move-on-move, attack-on-attack, whereas permutations within the entrance three seem myriad.
On Tuesday, that meant Luis Diaz performed by the center, grabbing himself a hat-trick, Mo Salah doesn’t appear to be deployed fairly as huge as he was at instances final season, Cody Gakpo is gaining swift momentum, and Darwin Nunez is providing better nuance.
Diogo Jota’s newest absence might have had an even bigger affect than it did, however the variation at play has absorbed the blow successfully, whereas Curtis Jones‘ elevated presence in midfield has been a vital factor too.
In a single respect, Slot is just making a tweak right here and an adjustment there, retuning fairly than restringing the guitar, but to do this you’ll want to have an skilled eye for the best of element to drag such an idea off.
Slot’s subsequent trick is to maintain the momentum going as we roll in the direction of the winter months. There appears to be instability elsewhere, and a possibility for one thing particular might be there for the taking.
Attention-grabbing instances.
