In an extensive conversation with former England international Owen Hargreaves, Arne Slot discussed the starts made by, among others, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitiké at Liverpool. According to the manager, who faces Manchester City with his team on Sunday, there are clear explanations for his side’s difficult start.
Arne Slot’s reflections on player development and squad strategy arrive on the very day Liverpool travel to face Manchester City in a heavyweight Premier League fixture that can shape the tone of the winter calendar.
The timing matters. After a demanding stretch that included a 1-0 win over Real Madrid at Anfield in the Champions League and a controlled 2-0 victory against Aston Villa three days earlier, Liverpool step into the Etihad seeking a statement away performance to consolidate momentum and to show that the recent reset has real substance.
Slot’s conversation with Owen Hargreaves for TNT Sports centered on individual evolution within a collective framework. The Dutch manager highlighted the blend of stature and agility that makes Hugo Ekitiké such an intriguing forward. At 1.90 m, the Frenchman offers penalty-box presence, aerial threat and a target for direct outs when pressure compresses short passing routes. Slot praised the nimble feet that allow Ekitiké to manipulate the ball under pressure, shift shooting angles quickly and finish with minimal backlift. The developmental checkpoints are clear. Greater strength in shoulder-to-shoulder duels. Repetition at Premier League tempo every three days. Better timing with midfield runners so that his layoffs and near-post darts unlock second-line finishes. The early signs are encouraging and have already translated into tangible attacking sequences that lift the team’s ceiling.
The conversation then moved to Florian Wirtz, whose adaptation curve looks different yet is guided by equally precise principles. Slot’s plan is to place Wirtz in the half spaces as often as possible, where his touch, disguise and scanning can bend defensive blocks out of shape. Those pockets between full back and centre half, just beyond the reach of a screening midfielder, are where Wirtz thrives. From there he can turn either way, combine with overlapping full backs, slip diagonal passes into the box or arrive for cutbacks. The margins, as Slot put it, are small. A last-ditch toe from a defender, a goalkeeper’s fingertip, a teammate a half-step offside. Output can swing widely on such details. The data is already reflecting the industrious side of his game out of possession. High intensity runs, counters pressed at source, and repeat sprints that set the platform for Liverpool’s recoveries when opponents try to build through the thirds. The end product will come as the patterns bed in and the relationships around him sharpen.
Alexander Isak’s late arrival adds another strand to the story of this season. Missing pre-season at Newcastle meant he stepped into Liverpool’s environment without the normal conditioning base. Pre-season is where high workload tolerance is built, where the aerobic floor and power endurance that sustain players through the autumn and winter are installed. Slot was candid about the challenge of trying to accelerate that process inside a live schedule. It requires minute management, targeted gym work and clear communication with the sports science team, all while the player is expected to deliver in high stakes matches.
This brings us to the broader strategy. Slot believes in a compact squad of nineteen or twenty senior outfielders. The upside is coherence. Roles are clear, automatisms repeat, and the collective identity remains stable. The trade-off is fragility when availability dips. With a game every three or four days across multiple competitions, the cost of two or three concurrent absences multiplies quickly. Last season’s smoother start benefited from a group that already carried Premier League mileage. This year, bedding in new signings while managing load has been trickier, and a rough patch of six defeats in seven underlined how thin margins can turn against you when rhythm stalls.
Yet the response has been strong. The win over Real Madrid restored belief and validated the defensive structure that had been tweaked to suit current personnel. Compactness between lines improved, full backs were more selective with underlaps and overlaps, and the press regained its timing so that traps on the flanks produced short fields and quick chances. Against Aston Villa, Liverpool showed control without reckless risk, using circulation to tire out the block before leaning on late surges from midfield to create separation. Those two results did not erase the pain of the previous run, but they shifted the conversation back toward progress.
All of this context feeds directly into the matchup at the Etihad. Against City, the half spaces that Slot wants for Wirtz are guarded by a coordinated web of midfielders and inverted full backs. Creating those pockets will depend on rotations that drag City’s eights away from their lanes. If Liverpool can pin the last line with Ekitiké’s presence and time the release of the near side full back, Wirtz can receive on the half turn with one touch options either side. Conversely, City’s ability to overload wide zones will test Liverpool’s backward pressing and the recovery speed of the centre backs. The first ten meters after a turnover will be decisive. If Liverpool compress immediately and force City to play back, the visitors can reset their shape. If they are a beat late, the ball will be at the feet of City’s creators facing forward, which is the danger zone for any opponent.
Set pieces could be a swing factor. Ekitiké’s reach offers a near post flick threat and a back-post mismatch against smaller full backs. Wirtz’s delivery from the right with his right foot can attack the corridor between the penalty spot and six-yard line. Conversely, Liverpool must be diligent with second balls at defensive corners, since City excel at recycling to the edge of the area for controlled strikes through traffic.
Player management will loom over the last half hour. With a leaner squad by design, Slot’s substitutions must balance energy with structure. Introducing a pace runner to stretch a tiring back line can create the vertical space Wirtz craves. A fresh ball-winner in midfield can protect against City’s late waves when they tilt the pitch. The timing of those changes will reveal how Slot reads the physical data against the flow of the match.
There is a psychological dimension too. The Etihad has a way of magnifying small errors. A slightly loose first touch becomes a transition against you. A free kick conceded in a harmless area becomes a choreographed routine. The composure Liverpool showed in shutting out Real Madrid will need to travel. Clearances must find teammates. Fouls must be conceded in clever zones. Communication must be constant, especially when City rotate positions rapidly to create 2v1s at the touchline.
For Liverpool, a positive result does more than add points. It validates Slot’s commitment to a tightly knit squad, reinforces trust in the developmental arcs of Ekitiké and Wirtz, and gives the group a platform before the calendar becomes even more congested. For City, it is an opportunity to reassert their home aura and stretch a rival. The tactical chess will likely hinge on who wins the battle for the middle thirds, who controls rest defense against counters, and who is more ruthless with the first big chance.
Today’s match, framed by Slot’s thoughtful assessment of individual and collective growth, arrives at exactly the right time for Liverpool. The energy from back-to-back wins has returned. The game model is sharpening. The new pieces are aligning with the old. Now comes the acid test against the most demanding opponent in the league, under the floodlights, with little room for hesitation and no margin for lax detail. If Liverpool can marry the control shown in the last two outings with the direct punch that Ekitiké offers and the between-the-lines craft that Wirtz brings, they will give themselves every chance to leave Manchester with something tangible and something to build on.
