Liverpool smashed through the English Premier League last season, taking advantage of the early fumbles by title rivals Arsenal to open an unassailable lead. Before Arsenal knew what was happening, the title had gone to Merseyside and they ended the season once more as runner-up.
It was a fantastic welcoming party for Arne Slot, the new Liverpool manager. Here he was, just arriving in England for a first stint in the most exciting league; the EPL, and he ran away with the title. Nothing could have been more rewarding.
There were murmurs here and there that this was Jurgen Klop’s team, but that is neither here nor there. Klop had spent his time in England battling his nemesis Pep Guardiola, and for several seasons, despite building a formidable team, Pep only allowed him one sniff at the EPL title. It was not surprising, therefore, that after all the trauma, a battle weary Jurgen Klop, tamely threw in the towel and walked away from Liverpool and the great team he had built.
Fast forward one year later, and Arne Slot, the Dutch tactician, took the team and benefited from the efforts of Jurgen Klop. He won the title in his first season in England, cementing his place among the great tacticians of this generation. But somewhere at the back of his mind was the niggling feeling that this was not really his team. This was an inherited squad. To stamp his authority therefore, and prove that he can win with his own team in his own way, something drastic had to be done.
And that is exactly what Slot did. Out went Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Dias, Darwin Nunez, Harvey Elliot, Konstantinos Tsimikas, Jarell Quansah, and five other players. In their place, Slot stormed the market and brought in nine new players, among them Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, and four others. In all, Slot spent just under half a billion Euros on six players, with Isak, Ekitike, and Wirtz gulping a chunk of that outlay.
Many have questioned why Liverpool would splash almost €150 million on Isak, a player who had never cracked the 30 goal per season mark in the EPL. Same could be said of Wirtz, who cost Liverpool a princely €125 million. As it stands, Mohammed Salah has been the go to man at Liverpool in the last few seasons, alongside Virgil Van Dyk, and a few others. Suddenly, the dynamics in the Liverpool dressing have shifted, new elephants have arrived and squad harmony is under threat.
The manager equally misjudged the impact of the exit of TAA, Nunez, and Dias. These are players who had been in the trenches with Salah and the others over the seasons. To lose them so soon after the tragic passing of Diogo Jota, is also taking its toll on the senior members of the team. Don’t forget also, that in the last few seasons, Salah had rejected multi-million dollar contracts from different Saudi suitors and pledged his loyalty to Liverpool. Despite being rewarded with a new contract, it was expected that his place as the go to man for the club would remain so for a while longer. But suddenly, the dynamics at Anfield are shifting like quicksand. Mo is definitely not a happy man.
From indications, a certain level of discontentment is floating around Anfield with the exit of TAA, Nunez, Dias, and others, and the sudden arrival of new cats who arrived on a heavy financial outlay, and who may be commanding wages above that of the war-weary old cats, who believe they have held the club together through trying times. It is becoming clearer by the day that Slot may have misjudged emotions in the attempt to rebuild the team in his personality.
On the other side, however, Liverpool’s rivals, Arsenal, seem to be clicking faster than anyone expected. Having been runners-up in the title race to either City or Liverpool in the last three seasons, Arsenal players have been more welcoming to the new cats in their squad, believing that these are what is required for them to cross the hurdle from being runners-up to being champions. The arrival of new players hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm at the Emirates, rather, the players seem energized. As a result, there seems to be more harmony in respect to the blending of new players at Arsenal, as opposed to Liverpool. This to the discerning eye may be responsible for the contrasting fortunes of both clubs this early in the season.
For whatever it is worth, however, it is hoped that Slot, alongside the powers that be at Anfield, would find a quick solution to the seeming discontent and disconnect between the players at Liverpool, and have the team firing again at full capacity, and thus make the battle for the 25/26 EPL title a little bit more exciting.
