A new era is dawning at Liverpool FC, and with it comes a new style of play. Harvey Elliott on the differences between Arne Slot and Jürgen Klopp
The Jürgen Klopp era is no more, but of course Liverpool FC must carry on. And it does, with coach Arne Slot – who has already fully convinced at least one of his new players. Harvey Elliott, a 21-year-old attacker, was full of praise during pre-season and compared Slot’s plans to the much-cited “heavy metal soccer” under Klopp.
The left-footer described the newly learned game with the ball as “very elegant, typical Dutch style”. “The style of play is completely different, it’s more about possession now,” revealed the former substitute, who had increasingly matured into a regular in the previous season. “We’re internalizing certain patterns, the players are enthusiastic. There’s an anticipation in the team to implement that. “
Exceptional line-up against Betis
Even if it is a new start for everyone after the change of coach, especially stylistically, he believes “that we will learn that very quickly”, said Elliott. “We already saw in the last game that we had certain moments of outstanding, fluid soccer.”
This was LFC’s pre-season game against Spanish Conference League side Real Betis (1-0), in which Elliott found himself in an unfamiliar position. Slot deployed his team in a kind of 4-4-2, in which Elliott and Dominik Szoboszlai formed a kind of front two – but played more like two tens
This formation was an exception, however, assured Slot, who had been forced to improvise. “We will play with a real striker during the season, but we don’t have one at the moment,” explained the 45-year-old. Which also means that there will probably only be one ten, meaning Elliott and Szoboszlai will probably have to compete for a position.
The next opportunities to do so will come in the remaining test matches against Arsenal FC (night of August 1), Manchester United (night of August 4) and Sevilla FC (August 11).
