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One of the key reasons for appointing Arne Slot as Jurgen Klopp's successor was that his arrival negated the need to rip up the Liverpool blueprints and start afresh.
Under Klopp, the club had built a squad that was set up to thrive within his tactical framework
with a new-look midfield sanctioned to the tune of around £150m just months after Cody Gakpo had been brought in for around £40m, and a year on from Darwin Nunez's arrival from Benfica at an initial £64m.
Throw in the addition of Luis Diaz in January 2022 for a fee that could rise to £50m
In total, the squad building cost the Reds around £304m,
Hence why starting from scratch with a new coach whose ideas veered wildly away from Klopp's would not have been conducive to the long-term plan.
Klopp's decision to stand down at the end of the campaign, then, was a genuine shock to both the club and owners Fenway Sports Group when he told them back in November
The nucleus of a top-class squad remains, so employing a coach with a vastly different philosophy would have been counterproductive to the years of expensive recruitment that had already been undertaken.
It's why the process of their managerial replacement being described as "data driven"was not merely paying lip service
Liverpool, as one of the leading European clubs when it comes to the exhaustive analysis of data, would be sticking to their principles throughout the search, even if the results threw up some left-field options that might not immediately excite fans
In terms of character, it was accepted that there could be no real Klopp replacement
Klopp broadly favoured a 4-3-3 formation across his time at Anfield,
The slight tweak to a 4-2-3-1 system that Slot favours theoretically allows room for another attacker in the starting XI
Liverpool rarely convinced when it was used ad-hoc by Klopp during his time at Anfield.
That, perhaps, was because there was such little time to try and properly implement it before the games it was chosen for
With time on the training field to work on the shape more consistently, however, Slot has the players at his disposal to move away from 4-3-3 to his more preferred system.
The lack of depth in the defensive midfield position might mean a delve into the transfer market
Alexis Mac Allister can play there alongside Endo, but the Argentina international looked most comfortable when further forward.
Could the 2022 World Cup winner perform as a No.10 in Slot's lineup?
Harvey Elliott is someone who could intrigue in that specific role. The England Under-21 had a great end to the campaign and will be desperate to kick on once more.
What will be fascinating to watch will be how Slot plans to use the full-backs within his ranks, particularly Alexander-Arnold,
Whether Slot reverts Alexander-Arnold back to his more traditional, wider position, keeps faith with the current plan or moves him entirely into his midfield will be instructive.
The incoming Dutchman will be tasked with improving a frankly horrendous injury record over recent years at Liverpool.
The appointment of Ruben Peeters, who worked as Feyenoord's head of performance, is a positive step forward
Slot's willingness to embrace developments in sports science and the medical side of preparing for football matches was outlined as a big factor in the decision to bring him on board.
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