Slotte s Liverpool needs a balance of offense and defense

Huge investment will also bring new problems. High value can sometimes become a burden for players, but when £100 million new player Wilz assists £69 million new player Ekitic scores and scores in just four minutes of Liverpool's debut, there is almost no sign of this. However, some teams may lose their original balance due to large spending.

After Liverpool spent £75 million to revamp the defensive line, Slott evaluated the first important game (Community Shield) and concluded: "We need to do better on the defensive end." This is not intended to accuse him of the high-priced new full-backs Flynnon and Kolkz. Instead, this is a more macro perspective.

This may be just a temporary problem, and Slott is determined to make sure it is temporary, but he still examines the performance of the pre-season warm-up match. The problem is not only Crystal Palace scored two goals at Wembley, 14 shots, an expected goal value of 2.12 (xG) and several wonderful saves from Alisson.

Slott reviewed Liverpool's goal conceded: 4 goals against AC Milan, 1 goal against Yokohama Mariners, and 2 goals against Athletic Bilbao. In fact, they conceded 9 goals in the last four league rounds (9 goals) after winning the Premier League last season. Interestingly, however, compared to those three warm-up matches and the Community Shield, the goal conceded at the end of last season may be less important now.

Slott spent nearly £300 million, not to weaken the team's stability. But the danger is that strengthening one link in the team may weaken another link. In Slot's eyes, Liverpool, which has Wilz and Ekitic, has upgraded its attack power.

"All preseason, we've seen teams have the ability to create more opportunities and maybe even take control of more balls," he said. "We had a high possession last season, but it didn't always translate into a goal opportunity. Now we are doing better than we did last season when it comes to creating opportunities and creating threat situations."

Liverpool showed dazzling offensive talent. But Slot pointed out that if football is sometimes a zero-sum game, then "zero concedes" may be the cornerstone of their success. They won 25 league games last season, with only two of them conceded goals (versus Southampton and Tottenham) to reach or exceeding two.

"What made us really strong last season was that we mostly won by one goal," Slott said. "This is mainly due to our frequent wins and we only conceded one goal at most. Today we scored two goals against Crystal Palace. We failed to do it once last season (two goals against Crystal Palace). We beat them 1-0 and only tied 1-1 at Anfield." This score of Wembley may be no stranger to a team that had 6 2-2 draws last season; but from another perspective, they only won two of the 12 games in which they conceded at least two goals in a single game.

Slotter has seen different problems in different competitions so far. "When we played against Athletic Bilbao, we didn't give the opponent any chance at all, but we lost two set pieces, which is also an important part of football," Slott said. Van Dijk seemed slow against Crystal Palace; this may be just an occasional situation, but considering that Liverpool currently has only three central defenders and Gomez is injured, the central defender's core position has become another hidden worry.

On the left, Crystal Palace's fast winger Sal made Kolkerz's debut a bit embarrassed, but Van Dijk has been guarding the wings for the past seven and a half years. The Hungarian international was bought to replace the Scots, just as Flynnon replaced Arnold on the other side. Tacit understanding cannot be formed immediately. When the fullback is set to frequently forward assists, chemistry, communication, and sense of distance and position all take time to run in.

In addition, the shape of the midfield is also changing. Slott introduced a more creative No. 10 player, Wiltz. But Sobosloy used to be oppressing in the frontcourt; so did Louis Dias and Jota. Against Crystal Palace, Sobosloy and Jones were in a deeper position than ever; neither of them were born defensive midfielders. If this is just a temporary arrangement, Herafenberg will also miss the league opening game against Bournemouth due to the suspension and extension of paternity leave. McAllister may start at that time, but it is worth noting that since Subimedi rejected Liverpool last summer, the team has not so far sought to introduce an alternative defensive midfielder.

Hrafenberger has been modified, but without a full-time defensive midfielder, the five-man defense line, including Alisson, plus two assisted full-backs, may be hugely responsible. Liverpool's interest in Isaac, in addition to the player strength factor, also stems from Ekitic's lack of qualified substitutes. “There aren’t many candidates who can replace him, so that’s why I replaced him,” Slott said, perhaps urging management to take action in the transfer market.

However, for those fans who like to pile up attackers in the "Fantasy Football" game, Slot seeks to blend offensive ambitions with stability. There are many precedents in history that have lost key cohesion by adding star players, whether it is Manchester United, which owns Peron or Real Madrid, which owns Mbappe. Slott is seeking fine-tuning to ensure Liverpool doesn't follow in the footsteps.

"We replaced four players and it took some time to get used to both sides of the offense," he said. "It may be a little more adjustment, because we didn't give our opponents too many opportunities, but we did concede a lot of goals."

The challenge facing Slott is: to make the team's offense better than last season, and to keep the defense as solid. This is exactly one of the difficult balance he has given himself through signings.