Liverpool have come out of the traps firing on all cylinders this season. The only blip being the home defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Both the performance and result were very disappointing for the Reds. Other than that we have seen a hard earned victory away at Wolves as well as comprehensive victories against West Ham in the Carabao Cup and a competent performance in the world famous San Siro.
The sweetest performance and result to date came at the home of bitter rivals Manchester United.
So what can this success be attributed to? Does Arne Slot deserve all the credit or do the players deserve some or all of the credit?
Slot deserves a huge amount of credit for what he has done to the team. On an individual basis one prime example would be Luis Diaz.
At the end of last season Diaz was Liverpool’s best performer in terms of threat to the opposition. However while this was evident on the pitch it didn’t translate into numbers.
The Goals and Assists column were still low for Diaz. This falls in line with Jurgen Klopp's chaotic Heavy Metal football.
The transformation we have seen in Diaz’s numbers so far is a result of Slot ball. There is a more measured approach from Diaz on how he plays the game.
He bagged a brace against Man Utd and Bournemouth and was the biggest threat for Liverpool. That is saying something because that is usually attributed to Mo Salah.
Clearly there is some kind of coaching going on there from Slot. Furthermore, because the game is more controlled Diaz is able to conserve energy and use it to its optimum when the attack makes a breakthrough.
The counter argument here for Diaz would be how does he operate against an opposition that utilizes a low block?
We saw against Nottingham Forest that Liverpool struggled to break them down. Obviously it is a collective issue and not singling out Diaz for criticism.
Slot’s set up is also benefiting Salah. It is a bit more difficult to assess Salah because his numbers have always been great. He has always been the impact player. The difference maker who gets the win.
The second half of last season following AFCON, Salah struggled with Injuries and therefore his impact was not what we are used to.
We all know that Salah likes to look after himself over the summer and that is no different this year but the controlled and measured approach from Slot is helping Salah to maintain his threat to the opposition.
The obvious trait to Slot’s tactic is to move the ball around deep in order to suck out the opposition and hit them on the break.
This has benefited both wide players Diaz and Salah. This clearly didn’t work against Nottingham Forest and it will be interesting to see how Slot solves this problem next time around when a team decides to set up in a similar way.
Football management is all about solving problems and learning from previous mistakes and no doubt Slot will be wary of what happened against Forest.
Tactics is one aspect but also the selection of players for that game following the international break will no doubt be reviewed and adjusted by Slot.
Slots approach to rotation is also helping. We have seen on several occasions Trent Alexander-Arnold one of the key players, being taken off at a certain point in the game. This is so smart because it is allowing emerging talent such as Connor Bradley minutes on the pitch whilst giving Alexander-Arnold time to recuperate.
We also saw significant changes to the line up against West Ham indicating that rotation is a major strategy for Slot.
Conclusion
The players need to execute the ideas of the Coach on the pitch. Liverpool's players have done that and then some. Players such as Diaz, Salah, and emerging talents such as Ryan Gravenberch have done what has been asked of them and deserve the credit for that.
Slot’s contribution to the start of the season has been huge. He has changed the approach of playing and that has benefited the players.
He has also retained some of the idea’s from his predecessor such as pressing which is also contributing hugely to the success of the team.
I believe that Slot’s approach is bringing out the best of the players Liverpool has. As Slot has said many times himself the current squad is already supremely talented and I feel that he is taking them onto another level as individuals and as a collective.