Slot over Amorim, the future Nunez

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It is only a matter of time before Arne Slot is confirmed as Liverpool’s next manager, with everything agreed between both the clubs and the man himself.

For me, it’s a very interesting appointment and one that speaks both to the lack of truly outstanding candidates available at this stage and to Liverpool’s willingness to take a risk.

As soon as Jurgen Klopp announced his intention to step down, and even before then, the Reds worked around the clock to identify the right replacement. From the beginning they insisted that it would be a thorough and private process, largely led by the club’s data department.

I understand Xabi Alonso was always considered a strong candidate, but Liverpool always felt there was a chance he would either choose to stay at Bayer Leverkusen or be tempted by a move elsewhere (Bayern Munich). As it happened, he opted for the first option.

Ruben Amorim has been closely linked and is understood to have looked good during the due diligence process, but sources have always insisted that the suggestion that he was a “preferred” candidate was incorrect and, as I believe, talks never came to fruition in an advanced stage. . The same can be said for a host of other candidates – Roberto De Zerbi, Gary O’Neil, Unai Emery.

The appeal of Slot is that he has achieved success at two different clubs, both punching above their weight with him as manager. He didn’t have huge sums to spend or players on huge salaries and managed to stamp his authority on the team in terms of a clearly defined style of play as well as impressive communication skills. All those points ensured that he was eventually considered “the one”, albeit in an imperfect field.

My thoughts on Slot match my thoughts on the Liverpool squad in general if I’m honest. I’m reasonably excited about it, but I’m also aware that having a lot of “potential” to talk about comes with the potential for disappointment.

The fact that Slot has consistently had Feyenoord in a position to compete and win trophies is very positive. He’s experienced title races, he’s felt that pressure, he’s been to a European final and he’s felt the weight of expectation and scrutiny. This can only be a good thing, even if the demands, expectations, scrutiny and pressure will be much higher on Merseyside than in Rotterdam.

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What should help him significantly, unlike say Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, is that he arrives at a club that has clear parameters in terms of its recruitment strategy, has a squad whose core he is at the right age to develop and improve with good training and is looking forward to Champions League football. He has good, established directors working above him, and that should allow him to focus on what he does best – coaching.

In terms of expectations, I think it will obviously be a challenge for him to ‘replace’ Klopp, but he has been left with a good squad of players and a squad that will break 80 points in the Premier League and proven capable. to compete with anyone on any given day. A top-four finish is essential, but if they can get off to a good start, and if the club can get the right additions in the summer, then there’s no reason to put any kind of cap on Liverpool’s ambitions going forward. If Klopp has taught him anything, it’s that daring to dream is what football should always be about.

If we’re going to take a cold-blooded look at Liverpool’s Premier League season, you’d say they’ve finally got where they should be.

Are they a better team than Manchester City? There are not. Are they better than this Arsenal team? There are not. They can beat any of them on their day and pretty much anyone else, but the brutal truth is that this is a side that have scrapped their way into an unexpected title challenge, but one that ultimately lacked the tools needed to support. This one.

The frustration, of course, is that after doing all that scrapping and over-delivering through March/April, they ended up coming up short in games they would have been expected to win. Beating Manchester United, Everton, West Ham and Crystal Palace shouldn’t have been beyond them, and Liverpool only needed to beat two of those to be even in the mix ahead of these final games.

I completely reject the idea that Klopp’s mid-season announcement played any part in April’s failures. First of all, how could they have kept a lid on such a story, given that Liverpool should have identified and named his successor?

And secondly, where were these hot moments when Liverpool were flying, winning the Carabao Cup despite an injury crisis, zooming to the top of the table and giving Manchester City hell, only to be denied a vital win by a highly questionable refereeing decision at Anfield? Now it’s easy to point and say that Klopp’s exit has destabilized Liverpool, but that’s not true. What cost him were poor performances, and there were plenty of them even before he made the January announcement.

It is clear to me that Liverpool need to sign a centre-back this summer. The emergence of Jarell Quansah has been one of the big positives of this season, but Joel Matip’s likely exit in the summer and the fact that Joe Gomez has been used almost exclusively at full-back over the past 18 months means there is too much reliance on Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, whose fitness record is questionable and whose form has been mixed this campaign.

Another option out there is essential, for my money. We know that Levi Colwill and Piero Hincapie are two players who have been admired in the past and that Benfica’s Antonio Silva is another. Recent links to Willian Pacho also have substance.

I like Jarrad Branthwaite a lot at Everton but I’d suggest he’s a no go given the relationship between the two clubs! Personally, I’d be amazed if every top club in Europe isn’t looking at Barcelona’s Pau Cubarsi right now. He looks like a superstar in the making to me, and while the Catalans don’t tend to sell products at La Masia, their messy financial situation could make it a little easier to force their hand here.

At 17, the sky’s the limit for that lad.

Firstly, I would be amazed if Barcelona were willing to pay whatever it takes to sign Darwin Nunez this summer. They have huge issues to sort out behind the scenes without committing that kind of money to a new No.9.

But from Liverpool’s perspective, I think the Uruguayan is perhaps the most interesting case heading into the summer window.

I would keep it, personally. I think he has more upside than downside going forward – 31 clean sheets this season is, well, pretty decent, isn’t it?! – and I think he has the mindset to deal with both the change of manager and the criticism that has come his way in recent weeks. He misses too many chances, I know, and there are times when he needs to be more tidy, smarter and more active in games. The fact that he ended his two seasons on Merseyside on the bench shows that there are still areas that need big improvement.

But if Liverpool were looking to sell then I would expect considerable interest. Chelsea inquired about Nunez a year ago and his reputation across Europe is still strong enough to ensure there will be clubs willing to make a move for him. He has the raw ability to be a very good centre-forward and his ability to get into scoring positions on a regular basis means there will be plenty of clubs and plenty of managers who will believe they can be the ones to unlock him true potential. .

Maybe Arne Slot will be that guy?