Arne Slot has already shown how Liverpool WILL play with Kerkez and Frimpong | OneFootball

What has become abundantly clear this summer is that Arne Slot wants roadrunners in the full-back positions. This has come as a bit of a surprise.

Most, myself included, thought he’d look for more of the same. That he’d want a ball-carrier, like Andrew Robertson, and a progressive ball-player, like Trent Alexander-Arnold. The only real question mark there was whether he’d want the roles to be identical or whether he’d look for someone, like Manchester City-bound Rayan Ait-Nouri or Maxim De Cuyper, to invert on the left while deploying Conor Bradley on the right.

However, it appears the Dutch tactician has other ideas.

The signing of Jermie Frimpong and the impending arrival of Milos Kerkez for a reported combined fee of £75million suggest Liverpool are going to set-up a little differently next term. People are, rightly, a little worried by this. On paper, it feels a little risky.. Both want to be in the final third, impacting the final phase of play. Both are best described as box-to-box full-backs. Yes, they can defend, but they don’t really want to be doing that.

After all, you aren’t signing them for their defensive nous, are you?

So, how do you get the best out of those two players without negatively impacting the balance of this team?

Though Slot seemed to suggest the set-up against Arsenal was a one-off, done purely to combat their style and approach, I still can’t shake the feeling that the double-pivot might be the way forward for this team.

© Anfield Watch

It gave Liverpool an extra body in the build-up phase while freeing up the full-backs in possession.

Arsenal focused on dominating the central areas. One thing they did really well at the Emirates was nullify Ryan Gravenberch, meaning Liverpool had no escape plan. At Anfield, though, the Reds set up in a way that meant the visitors basically had to give up the wide areas.

The result? Robertson and Bradley were highly influential, especially in the first half.

© Anfield Watch

Liverpool escape the press and Robertson is able to carry the ball from his defensive third into the attacking third. The Reds really looked to make the most of his ability to move through the thirds in possession.

This happened time and time again. Now imagine Kerkez, with his higher speed and greater running power, doing that from time to time.

Slot’s side can afford their full-backs to do this, safe in the knowledge they have four players covering central areas in the centre-backs and the double pivot.

© Sky Sports

You can see where Bradley is for the second Liverpool goal. He underlapped Mohamed Salah and pinned Myles Lewis Skelly. This freed up the four-time Golden Boot winner to pick out an unbelievable pass to Dominik Szoboszlai.

You can picture a similar dynamic with Frimpong, can’t you? Because the Dutchman is as comfortable underlapping as he is overlapping.

This creates different scenarios for Liverpool now.

© Tacticalista

While Florian Wirtz isn’t yet official and there’s some debate over where he’s going to fit in, we’ll use him as one of the two central attackers in this scenario. Liverpool could play a front four made up of Cody Gakpo, Wirtz, Szoboszlai and Salah as a front four. Salah and Gakpo can tuck inside, allowing Kerkez and Frimpong the space to own their respective flanks.

You’re essentially turning two of the front four into dual 10s at any given time. Maybe not positionally, but their roles will be to supply the ammo for the runners, inside and outside of them. Two from those four in attack can link play while the other two, along with the full-backs, look to get in behind.

© Tacticalista

But then there’s also a world in which Gakpo and Salah hold the width. Just look at Salah’s role in the Diaz goal against Arsenal. He drops deep to pick up possession and then picks out one of the two runners. If you have Frimpong and Szoboszlai making those runs and pinning parts of the defence, Salah is going to have a lot more space, especially if he decides to drop a little deeper. Likewise with Gakpo on the opposite flank.

Wirtz favours the left-channel, so even if he’s deployed centrally, he’ll drift to that side of the pitch naturally. With Kerkez bombing on too, there’s no reason they couldn’t pin the defence on that side of the pitch to allow Gakpo the room, time and space to act as a playmaker on that side of the pitch.

© Tacticalista

And while it might seem quite attacking, having six players in the final phase a lot of the time, Liverpool are still quite secure defensive because of the set-up. The Reds can be compact in central areas and there are three lines to beat before you reach the penalty area, giving Slot’s side ample opportunity to regain possession in transition.

In theory, this would be well balanced. If it clicks, it could well be unstoppable. Liverpool 2.0 are taking shape under Slot. It’s an exciting time to be a supporter.