Arne Slot Could Have the Tactical Key to Unlock Liverpool’s Mo Salah Once Again | OneFootball

Mo Salah’s Liverpool Future: Slot’s Tactics Could be the Difference

With Jurgen Klopp’s departure looming and Liverpool out of the Premier League title race, attention now turns to the new Arne Slot era at Anfield. Speculation has started to rise regarding which players could benefit from the Dutchman’s arrival and who could potentially suffer from Klopp’s departure.

Mo Salah has been at the epicentre of Liverpool discussion over recent days, but recent reports surprisingly suggest that the Egyptian King could be leaning towards staying at Liverpool and could even extend his current contract, which is set to expire in 2025. Conveniently, Salah could actually be one of the players that could benefit from Slot’s arrival.

With that being said, let’s explore how Salah could become a whole new player under the guidance of the current Feyenoord boss…

Slot’s Tactical System

During his time at Feyenoord, Arne Slot has regularly switched between a 4-3-3 and a 4-2-3-1 formation. This system would definitely suit Liverpool’s current crop of players more than the likes of Ruben Amorim’s style of play, who was also heavily linked with a switch to the Anfield dugout.

In both formations, the forwards regularly link up with the offensive midfield players, through intricate passes. This is sort of link-up and creative play is something that has improved significantly in Salah’s performances over recent years.

Photo: IMAGO

Salah’s Potential Position Change

When looking at those above formations, many would expect Salah to remain as the right-winger due to his world-class achievements in that position over recent years. However, it’s certainly possible that Salah could become the natural ‘number ten’ in Slot’s system next season.

As Salah’s career has progressed, we have seen him naturally drift further central, but in a different way to his previous direct runs in behind the centre-backs. The best example of this style was perhaps Liverpool’s 1-0 away win against Atalanta in the Europa League Quarter-Final second leg.

Of course, Salah still utilised the right-wing, but we also saw him often dropping into midfield to try and contribute to the offensive build-up play. This freed up space for the likes of Dominik Szoboszlai to make more direct runs in behind. There’s also no doubt that Salah is starting to lose his pace a little bit, especially since his injury on international duty, so this role could suit him brilliantly.

Calvin Stengs’ Role at Feyenoord

This role at Feyenoord is currently used by Calvin Stengs, who has become one of the standout performers in Slot’s side over recent seasons. The 25-year-old has become one of the key creative influences in Slot’s Feyenoord setup, notching 23 direct goal involvements so far this season.

As you can see, shot-creating actions and progressive passes remain at the centre of Stengs’ play. These two attributes are definitely strong points to Salah’s game, too. The Egyptian King currently averages an outstanding 4.76 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes and 5.21 progressive passes per 90 minutes.

Liverpool’s Transfer Strategy

Should Salah shift into this role under Slot, it would be expected that Liverpool would need to go into the market for a new right-winger. Players like Johan Bakayoko and Mohammed Kudus have both been linked with a move to Anfield and could prove to be incredibly smart purchases for the Reds.

Ultimately, this tactical change will only work if Liverpool are able to identify a worthy signing in that right-wing position. Perhaps we could see either Harvey Elliott or Dominik Szoboszlai on that right-wing, but I still think it’s unlikely.