4 things I want to see from the new Liverpool season

It has been a long time coming, but the fresh optimism of a new season is on the horizon.

Liverpool’s 2024/25 campaign will be distinctly different from the last, with a new man in-charge and Champions League football returning to Anfield.

What better time to ponder our hopes and dreams for the next eventful nine months.

Here are a few things, some more obscure than others, that I hope will arise in Liverpool’s upcoming season.

Slot to start well

This one might seem obvious, but bear with me.

Managerial tenures, particularly one following a period as esteemed as Jurgen Klopp’s should be allowed to start with frustration and frailty. But alas, the football world does not agree.

If Slot starts badly, he will be instantly put under pressure in the era of a 24-hour news cycle and faceless abuse on social media.

It is easy to draw comparisons with Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, the Scotsman struggled for a long time before finding his feet, a patience that his successor David Moyes did not enjoy two decades later.

Slot’s tactical ideas seemed to have come across well to the players during the season, but a full throttle Premier League campaign, can be a different story.

A lot of players need bedding-in too after playing international football and under the great Klopp for so long.

If he wins his first two games, and they are tough but winnable against Ipswich and Brentford, then the patience will come.

Not to mention, they would set him up well for an irritatingly premature trip to Old Trafford.

Liverpool to beat Manchester United

Wouldn’t it be nice to just go there, third game of the season and win? The best way possible to usher in the Slot era.

As someone who had their childhood ruined by Manchester United, I enjoyed previous seasons of rubbing their faces in 7-0, 5-0, and 4-0.

Last campaign, Liverpool hammered on the door of victory against Manchester United, always just agonizingly out of reach.

Victory would have been ours at Anfield in December, if the ball had dropped for us.

Victory would have been ours in the FA Cup, if we could have held a lead.

Victory would have been ours in April, if young Jarell Quansah hadn’t given Bruno Fernandes that uncharacteristic gift.

Hopefully, we can break that three-match winless run and not turn it into a hoodoo against this poor Manchester United team.

An Arne Slot fist-pump

If Liverpool’s recent friendly against Sevilla was devoid of one thing, it was Arne Slot giving us any sort of attention whatsoever.

We roared him out at Anfield for the first time. Nothing. We tried singing his name. Nothing. Stayed behind at the end to clap him off. Nothing.

For the past eight or so years, we have been spoilt by Jurgen Klopp bestowing us with whatever fatherly appreciation he chose to administer.

Fist-pumps at full-time were something really worth staying for.

The ‘Rafa’ (Benitez) wave too, has sadly already been taken.

I don’t want to see a carbon copy, I want ‘Slotty’ to find something to call his own.

Hopefully he has been practicing and has something up his sleeve for us. A few victories will give him ample chance.

Defensive midfielders to prove the doubters wrong (again)

It frustrates me that I have to reiterate what a wonderful talent Wataru Endo is at defensive midfield.

Last season, the Japanese tore up prior expectations of him to become a mainstay in the Liverpool midfield.

After a summer of Liverpool flirting yet again with a new number six, Endo has the opportunity to reclaim the shirt.

I want to see him shine, but I hope that Stefan Bajcetic stays and does too. As much as I love Endo, he is 31, and Bajcetic is the future.

After a long injury lay-off, Bajcetic too has a point to prove.

I think he is the type of defensive midfielder that Slot is looking for, young, hungry, and capable on the ball.

A bit of patience with him and Liverpool will reap the rewards, I hope he gets that in this campaign.

With a new season comes fresh August optimism, let’s hope that 2024/25 continues to shine brightly on the mighty Reds.