Arne Slot explains his ‘preferred formation’ – and jokes about 4-2-3-1 ‘analysis’

How Liverpool’s tactics will change under Arne Slot has been much discussed since his appointment, and the man himself had plenty to say on what we can expect – plus a good-natured joke thrown in.

The Dutchman fronted the Merseyside press for the first time on Friday morning, quizzed about taking over from Jurgen Klopp, new appointments, getting to know the city and working with the players.

Amid all that, there was also time for a question about what tactics he may deploy at Anfield, with it presented to him that he used 4-2-3-1 at Feyenoord while Liverpool favoured 4-3-3 under Klopp.

His answer revealed more about his philosophy on and off the ball, which we will see with our own eyes in the coming months.

Explaining his ideology, Slot said: “I’m a bit…set might not be the right word, but I was hoping if people looked at my team they would not say it is 4-2-3-1 or it is 4-3-3 or whatever formation you want to call it.

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“I was hoping they would say there is a lot of freedom when they have the ball to take it in different positions.

“So sometimes it is a 4-2-3-1; sometimes it is a 4-1-4-1; sometimes we do build up with three. So there’s a lot of ‘freedom’ when we have the ball.

“But when we don’t have the ball there is not so much freedom. We want to be really aggressive and there’s only one way, and that’s everybody mostly keeps his position.

“I wouldn’t put myself in the situation where I say I prefer a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1, there are a lot of players taking in a lot of different positions.

“So if you would have asked me, I would have said we played 4-3-3 instead of 4-2-3-1 at Feyenoord.

“But we did build up a lot of the time with three [at the back], full-backs have different roles.”

With a wry grin, he added: “I’m curious who told you we played 4-2-3-1, maybe that one should go get his [coaching] license,” he said with a laugh. “Or analyse a bit better!”

The answer gave us a little more insight into his character – his willingness to have a joke – but also what we can expect to see formation-wise on the pitch from the players.

Our first real insight into the latter will be during the first pre-season friendly against Real Betis on July 26, the opening game of three during the United States ‘tour’.