Arne Slot‘s first friendly in charge of Liverpool showed glimpses of what he describes as “our style,” with the head coach explaining how he expects to play.
The Reds began their tour of the United States with a stop in Pittsburgh, which brought a clash with Real Betis that ended in a 1-0 win.
Dominik Szoboszlai scored the goal, having started the game in an unorthodox role as he and Harvey Elliott operated as “double 10s” in the absence of a centre-forward.
In his post-match press conference, Slot made it clear that this 4-4-2 setup was not his plan moving forward, with the head coach telling reporters “you will see us play with a real striker.”
But the Dutchman made it clear that the hallmarks of his style were on show in the victory.
“The style of play, with trying to build out from the back, that is our style,” he explained.
“To control the game, to not concede constant counter-attacks, that will hopefully be our style during the season.
“There were also, of course, many things we can improve, but that’s normal after two weeks.”
Slot gave interesting detail over his vision for Liverpool, which certainly differs from Jurgen Klopp‘s approach – despite sharing many similarities, too.
Under Slot, the Reds can be expected to take more time on the ball, with more repetitive possession play, rather than the full-throttle, often direct style employed by Klopp.
It will take some time for the players to get used to – as well as the fans – but his successful setup at Feyenoord can certainly be translated to his new squad.
“I think there were a few positive things and, of course, a few things we have to improve,” he continued.
“But the positive thing is that we kept a clean sheet. I think we only conceded one big chance and that was somewhere around the last 10 minutes of the game.
“So we controlled the game really well and in between we had a few good attacks where we created a few good chances and scored a good goal.
“Those were the positives from this game.”
