Premier League tour - Liverpool, there are still shortcomings in increasing the intensity of signings. Can Slot complete the defending test in the second year?

Review of last season

Liverpool won the championship with 84 points last season, the top league championship was tied with Manchester United, the second Premier League championship trophy after the reform of the Premier League, and the group stage of the Champions League was thriving in the group stage, entering the knockout round, but stopped in the quarterfinals. Both sides were not favored by the outside world at the beginning of the season. On the one hand, the team had almost no signings, that is, the combat power had not changed from the previous season. On the other hand, the rookie coach Slot, who had no experience in the five major leagues, was coached. Everything is full of challenges for Liverpool in the new season. The team's final victory is inseparable from Slot's overthrowing and reshaping the tactical framework left by Klopp, focusing on counterattacks and intensive short passes, giving up the past high-level pressure that was too physically dependent. Salah's performance at the Golden Ball level is also the key to the team's ability to win the championship ahead of schedule.

The entire first half only lost Nottingham Forest at home, and since this failure, Slott has strengthened his investment and tactical changes on the offensive end. Liverpool averaged more than 2 goals per game in the subsequent games, which relatively alleviated the team's continued difficulty in breaking intensive defensive problems in the past. The score advantage established in the first half gave the team a certain room for fault tolerance in the second half, which also exposed the hidden dangers that the team still had. They did not win against Forest, Everton, Villa and Fulham away. Although the offense was still sharp, the defense line focused on digging holes in the second half, which was also the most direct reflection of the weak defense force. Fortunately, Manchester City fell completely last season, and Arsenal was also affected by serious injuries. The final sprint did not create too much threat to Liverpool. Overall, the new rookie leads 10 points to win the championship with almost zero investment. Liverpool was relatively successful last season, but in the fiercely competitive Premier League, it is very difficult to expect not to invest in establishing a performance advantage. Slott really has to thank Klopp for the complete framework left behind, without debugging and plug-and-play.

Summer transfer:

The effect of changing coaches last season was immediate. After "saving" many years of money, the club finally invested heavily in the transfer window of the new season. So far, Liverpool has completed four major signings.

1, 125 million signed to midfielder Wilz from Leverkusen, and can play in multiple positions in the frontcourt. He has scored more than 30 goals in Leverkusen in the past two seasons. His arrival continues to increase Liverpool's frontcourt creativity and partner with McCa and Sobosloy. Liverpool has a variety of combinations in the frontcourt to adapt to different tactics. Judging from the performance of the previous few preseason games and the Community Shield Cup, Wilz's integration is very good. As Salah grows older, Wilz seems to be the core figure of the team's future tactical skills. However, the challenge for him comes from whether he can quickly adapt to the higher-tempo competition environment of the Premier League.

2, 80 million signed forward Ekitic from Frankfurt. This signing was questioned by some fans. Ekitic only achieved a highlight last season, with 22 goals and 12 assists in 48 games. Half a season after Marmush left the team, the team took him as the core of the offensive, and got more ball rights and shooting opportunities, thus achieving a big breakthrough in data. However, in terms of the performance of the preseason and Community Shield, it is also perfectly integrated into Slot's tactical system, with height and speed and flexible skills. Compared with Nunes, Ekitic's shooting skills are better, which is why the team is willing to take decisive action.

3, 46 million from Bournemouth to Kirkz, the signing here is to prepare for the successor of Robertson. The players' technical and tactical characteristics are roughly the same as Robertson, but they are more impactful. Their back insertion and steal are more decisive, injecting new vitality into Liverpool's slightly dull left sideways in the past two seasons.

4, 40 million signed into the right-wing all-round Flynnon from the pharmaceutical factory, and this signing was to supplement the vacancy of Arnold's right-back after leaving the team. In terms of technical characteristics, Flynnon's wingback and winger play more in Leverkusen, and his ability to counterattack and back-spin is good, but compared with Arnold, the organizational effect is relatively poor. If locked in the full-back position, his defensive role is actually not much different from Arnold. The hidden dangers of the right-wing defensive road were not completely solved because of this signing. Flynnon scored double goals for four consecutive seasons at Leverkusen, and this signing was more regarded as a reinforcement on the offensive end. With Salah still in the African Cup mission in the new season, Flynnon will play as the right winger.

Overall, these four transfers are all abilities and positions that Liverpool urgently needs to strengthen, but this transfer window Liverpool is still not successful. Dias and Nunes and Jota, who died unexpectedly, currently only 5 strikers in the first team. Except for Salah, who can rotate with Flynnon, there are almost no one to switch between the center and the left side. On the left, even if young player Ngumoha has performed well recently, Wilz can play on the left side, but the overall front line is still slightly weak. The defensive line is a huge hidden danger burying Liverpool's new season. It is enough to see from the community shield that just ended. Van Dijk's timely ability is still growing older and cannot avoid the increase in mistakes and difficulty in counterattacks. Connat has always been unstable. Apart from Gomez, there is no regular central defender, and Robertson and Endo Kazuyo are not the best solution.

Currently, Liverpool's potential recruitment targets are focused on Crystal Palace defender Guy and Newcastle striker Isak. In the past two months since the window opened, Liverpool has been following these two signings. There is still no new breakthrough.

Lineup and tactics:

Slot continues to use 4-2-3-1 pass and control counterattack in the new season. Judging from the current situation, Slot's tactical themes in the new season are mainly offensive sharpening and defensive error correction. Multiple organizational hands distributed in the frontcourt and Ekitic, who has good shooting skills, can further improve offensive efficiency. The defense line is currently ineffective in signings, how to reasonably allocate these defenders to their hands will be the biggest test Slot faces in the new season.

New season goals and challenges:

Referring to the preseason and Community Shield Cup, the starting lineup of the new season has been fully formed, Ekitic fulcrum center, with a height and shooting skills, Gakbo/Ngumoha + Salah's wings, while Salah remains healthy, Flynnon will not appear in the winger rotation position for the time being. Midfield trio, Wilz's front midfielder organization, double midfielder McCa + Graffenberg, Sobosloy is more flexible in the midfield position, can be in the front midfield, and can also play in the forward position, but in terms of community shield performance, Sobo's effect in playing the back midfielder is very unsatisfactory. Fullback Kirkz/Roberson + Flynnon/Bradley, the centre-back continues to be partnered by Van Deck with Connert. It is not difficult to see that except for the sufficient rotation in the midfield, the defense and attacking personnel are a little thin. The challenge faced by

is the competition of other BIG6s, and the internal challenge is whether Slot can continue to play zero investment last season and continue to play existing cards well if Liverpool announces the window closing, and if there is both front and rear positions, that is, the combat power is insufficient. If Salah can maintain good competitiveness in the championship in the first half, after entering the Christmas schedule, the team's offense may be greatly affected.

From the perspective of schedule, compared with other BIG6 teams, the Devil's schedule is not very deep. In the first three rounds of the season, facing Newcastle and home matches Arsenal, they fought against Chelsea and Manchester United in October, and were relatively difficult in November. They encountered Villa, Manchester City and Forest, which caused great trouble for Liverpool last season, and there were also Champions League matches during this period. Except for Tottenham, the Christmas schedule is a mid-level relegation team, which may be a good opportunity for Liverpool to grab points or stabilize the position. The schedule of the match against the strong team in the second half was also relatively large, and in the last four rounds, they played against Manchester United, Chelsea and Villa. Overall, the new season has more tests of Slot's rotation ability and the stability of the mid- and lower-level teams. Without strong dialogues in many consecutive games, it can relatively alleviate the difficulties faced by the team's slightly thin lineup.

Summary:

Zero investment last season + the new coach's championship activated the club's ambition, and thus Liverpool had the confidence to spend 500 million to strengthen and innovate the lineup, tearing the label of "Cordyceps" in the transfer window in recent seasons. The team is heading for the goal of defending the league and going further in the Champions League. But judging from the preseason and the community shield that just ended, Liverpool's signing work needs to continue to be carried out, and the shortcomings and hidden dangers are extremely obvious. In the more fierce competition in the new season, Liverpool may collapse early if they are not careful. Slott's second year is still the year of the big test.