It was a sobering Anfield homecoming for Xabi Alonso, the man who might well have been in Arne Slot‘s position in the home technical area rather than the visitors’ had the wind blown in a different direction during the summer.
Lessons were learned by both him and us as Liverpool mercilessly swept Bayer Leverkusen aside in the Champions League.
An intriguing stalemate for an hour, followed by an avalanche of goals for the men in red during the last half hour. In the end, it was a brutal unpicking of Xabi-ball by the Slot Machine, on an evening when quite the statement was made by a Liverpool side that now tops both the Champions League and Premier League tables.
Here we had opponents that were invincible double winners in Germany last season, a team beaten only once throughout 2023/24, a loss they didn’t absorb until the Europa League final.
Led by a former Liverpool Champions League winner, a hero of Istanbul, and one which many of us had hoped would step into the void left by Jurgen Klopp’s summer departure, only for him to admirably decide his immediate future still lay with the Bundesliga club.
He took them from relegation candidates to the previously unseen riches of league title glory, all within the relative blink of an eye.
Xabi consummately trod the tightrope of returning hero and contemporary European rival with style, and one numbing loss will not alter a managerial trajectory that has all the potential to take him wherever his vision and ambitions desire.
Timing is everything
Turbulence at Real Madrid, you say? A return for Xabi to the Bernabeu wouldn’t be a surprise in the not-too-distant future.
Demands of perfection at Bayern Munich always leaving their head coach on shifting sands, you say? There will be simulators at the Allianz Arena already running programs of how Xabi-ball will play out in Bavaria.
With a Bundesliga title to his name as both player and manager, you wouldn’t bet against him achieving the same in La Liga before long either.
A keen eye at Anfield will undoubtedly keep a watching brief on Xabi, but as autumn does its thing, Slot is increasingly displaying why he was the right man at the right time when it came to Liverpool appointing a successor to Klopp.
An unknown entity to most of us before his arrival, if we’re honest about it, Slot’s task in following in the footsteps of Klopp was both a blessing and curse.
He inherited a club in relatively rude health, inclusive of a bountiful squad of players who know how to win things while also having to deal with the shadow of a predecessor that remains larger than life.
Not a job for shrinking violets and the faint of heart, Slot has embraced the challenge rather than fear it, guiding a set of players that the injured Federico Chiesa apart are still very much men of the previous incumbent of the manager’s office at Anfield.
A long way still to travel before the 2024/25 season reaches its end, yet you can’t help but be impressed with the job Slot has done so far, taking the players he has at his disposal and putting his own spin on how he wants them to play when the easy option would have been to send them out with a mantra of stick, don’t twist. More of the same.
It takes a specific managerial mindset to take on somebody else’s team without bringing in a fleet of your own new signings and getting it to play to a different tune that still remains familiar to a degree.
Bob Paisley nailed it when he replaced Bill Shankly, and in Slot’s own homeland, the Totaalvoetbal of Rinus Michels at Ajax was given an alternative jaunty hat by Stefan Kovacs. Aside from Fabio Capello taking up the reins at Milan in succession of Arrigo Sacchi, there aren’t too many other examples to draw upon where the transition proved to be as smooth as silk at such a high level of football.
Slot has the chance to pull off the trick though.
There is the potential for something special
That last half hour on Tuesday night was the perfect snapshot of what the Slot brand of Liverpool might be able to achieve in the months and years ahead, and what is most compelling is the balance of the team.
It might not be heavy metal football anymore, but the acoustics are tremendous. There is less sledgehammer and more subtlety, and it’s absolutely OK to love both interpretations.
Within this, it does feel like change is in the air, which can be unsettling, yet the players are massively enjoying their football regardless. Slot seems to be earning the trust of his players, and he is becoming more accustomed to his new surroundings.
We have barely missed Alisson these last few games and Slot has not blinked at the concept of benching Andy Robertson.
We’ve all been impressed with the impact of Ryan Gravenberch, and the boldness of not fielding a recognised defensive midfielder has brought a perpetual rotation of duties for the middle three. As one stays and two advance, the composition of who goes and who stays is constantly changing, move-on-move, attack-on-attack, while permutations in the front three appear myriad.
On Tuesday, that meant Luis Diaz played through the middle, grabbing himself a hat-trick, Mo Salah doesn’t seem to be deployed quite as wide as he was at times last season, Cody Gakpo is gaining swift momentum, and Darwin Nunez is offering greater nuance.
Diogo Jota’s latest absence could have had a bigger impact than it did, but the variation at play has absorbed the blow effectively, while Curtis Jones‘ increased presence in midfield has been a crucial element too.
In one respect, Slot is simply making a tweak here and an adjustment there, retuning rather than restringing the guitar, yet to do that you need to have an expert eye for the finest of detail to pull such a concept off.
Slot’s next trick is to keep the momentum going as we roll towards the winter months. There seems to be instability elsewhere, and an opportunity for something special could be there for the taking.
Interesting times.
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